The Flux Chronicles: Part I Flux War
by xUnicornsRulex
Summary: What if Sonny and Clamp couldn't stop Bleylock stealing the MetaFlux 20 years ago.How different would the future be?Will our Snow Kids ever be the same or ever meet each other?Will love conquer over war? Find out as we explore a different universe.
1. The Inturder

**Warning: Some scenes contain sexual references and violence. Young readers please beware. **

**Flux War**

**Chapter 1: The Intruder. **

Tia stood there. She looked happy and lively on the outside but on the inside she felt cold and dead. I should have become an actress, Tia laughed secretly to herself, as she pretended to laugh at some joke that wasn't even that funny. In fact the joke didn't even have a point. Today was Tia's nineteenth birthday party. At parties you're meant to be all happy and dancing around crazily, while everything gives you presents to celebrate another year of your life. However, Tia was different. She would have preferred to jump out of a window. Why you might ask? Tia stared at the man on the opposite side of the room. To everyone that wasn't good at seeing through disguises they would see a young man around the age of his early twenties, with a nice personality and dashing good looks that would send any women falling to their knees in a five mile radius. But Tia knew differently. She could see the evil glint in his eyes. She had seen it the first time she had met him but didn't know what it was at first. Hell, she probably would never have met him if her parents weren't so desperate to marry her off to a rich family, so their position in politics would increase. She cursed herself for being so young and stupid back then. She truly thought that she was in love with him because of the way he would spoil her and call her beautiful all the time, something no one had ever told her (not even her parents). So when he asked for her hand in marriage she accepted, even though she was only seventeen at the time, her parents had happily giving their blessing. Taking this as a good sign (since her parents did nothing but criticise her for all her life) she went ahead planning the wedding. At first she wanted a small wedding with close family and friends but her fiancé insisted they should have a big wedding and since she was so stupid and was willing to do whatever he said, she planned a big wedding. It was on their wedding night that everything changed. She was in the bathroom, trying to prepare herself for her first night as a married woman, when he came in screaming for her to hurry up, when she asked if he was all right he punched her in the face, beating her until most of her body was covered in bruises. The torture continued when he dragged her to the bed and had sex with her. After he had finished he fell straight to sleep, leaving her to drag herself to the bathroom, crying while she fixed herself up. She keep repeating to herself that he had just had a little too much at the bar and that in the morning when he realise what he had done he would apologise and try to make it up to her somehow. But from then on things only got worse. She had tried to get away, she had gone to the police but it seemed that her complaint forms would disappeared and somehow end up into the hands of her husband. When she finally tried to call her parents for help she found out that they were killed in a spacecraft accident, just days after her wedding and that husband had been informed of the incident. So with no help, no family and her husband watching her bank accountants carefully, there was nothing she could do. Thankfully, after a few weeks he was displeased with her bed performances and started sleeping with other woman instead, so it was very rare for him to come into her room now a days. He still beat her but that was only if she ever crossed paths with him, so she would hang out in the library –the one place he hated- and stay in there all day or go swimming in a nearby swimming pool centre just down the road. She had tried to commit suicide but before she could go on with it a little voice would shout in her head, saying one day someone would come and rescues her from this hell. It sounded stupid to her but she clung onto it with every last will and hope she had left. She took another look at a man across the room. His name was Jonathan Point and she hated his guts. She let out a sigh of relief when he saw him talking with Katy Smith, his number one bed partner. I bet he doesn't beat you when you make love, Tia hissed to Katy mentally. She was about to turn back to the conversation she was having when something caught her eye. It was a young man she had never seen before. He was very tall and well muscled, with milk chocolate skin and beautiful gold eyes. He was very handsome and seemed to have something good and gentle about him. I'm surprise Jonathan actually has a friend like that and even invite in over, Tia thought, since she knew Jonathan hated people that were better looking then him. Tia couldn't take her eyes off him for some reason. Her eyes grew wider when she saw him nick a security key from one of the guard's pockets. He was just about to walk away when his gold eyes caught her emerald ones. She caught her breath when they stared at each other. A good housewife should have reported him to the nearest guard but she had been told constantly by Jonathan that she was a crap housewife and she didn't want to get him in trouble for some reason, so she turned back to the conversation she was having with her guests. Trying to forget what she saw.

It was one o'clock at night. The guests had gone about an hour ago but Tia had to stay up for a bit longer to help the cleaning up with the staff. After that was done Tia began to drag her feet to bed. But stopped when she heard arguing down the hall.

"So you think you can just walk in here and talk private information huh!" Jonathan cried out. There was a thud, letting Tia know that he was beating someone. "Well, let me tell you something, anyone that tries to steal Emperor Bleylock army plans always gets killed." There was another thud and something like a groan. Army plans? What was Jonathan doing mixed up with plans by Emperor Bleylock? Was he helping Bleylock win the war which has been going on for nearly twenty years? Tia's heart was racing faster than a crazy bull running after a red flag attracted to a race car. How could he be working with such a monster? Tia thought angrily to herself as she clutched her fists. He started a war for goodness sake and for what. Power! How could you get yourself caught up in this Jonathan? Then Tia mentally slapped myself. Of course Jonathan would get himself mixed up in this, he's a power hungry pig. Hell, that was the only reason for marrying me, to get my money and my connections. Whatever it was I didn't want to be a part of it. She tried to make herself walk away but stopped at what Jonathan said next.

"But I'll tell you what, since you have pretty golden eyes I'll make you a deal," As soon as he said it Tia heart stopped, making her freeze like a lifeless statue. Did he just say gold eyes? Her heart twisted in pain at that moment, she didn't understand why but her heart went out to the man that her husband was beating up at the moment. She knew what it was like to be hit by those fist. She listen carefully to what her husband was saying. "If you can tell me plans from The Allies, I'll let you live, now doesn't that sound fair." His questioned was followed by a defiant silence. The man was brave, Tia thought, as a tear escape down the side of her cheek. When he first beat her she had beg and cry for mercy, now she didn't say anything because she knew he would never stop beating her. A moment later there was another thud. "Take him too the basement and lock him up with no food or water." Jonathan shrieked. Before he let his man drag the stranger away her husband added. "because of you, I've lost my entertain for this evening, so I'll have to use that bitch of a wife of mine instead." At that last remark Tia ran as quietly as she could to her bedroom and prepare herself for the horrors of tonight.

She lay there awake with her husband slightly on top of her. Tia tried to push the disgusting body off her earlier but the last time she did she accidentally woke him up, so he beat her and rape her more before falling back to sleep again, adding more of his body weight onto her. So instead she thought. She should have been feeling angry thoughts at the golden eye stranger because it was his fault that she was being crushed right now. However, she did not have the heart, she was pretty sure that the stranger did not mean to do this to her. Instead, she couldn't help but worry about him. Was he ok? How bad were his wounds? Did he need medical attention? How long could he last? The questions kept repeating themselves over and over again inside her head. If what Jonathan had said was true then the stranger was part of the Allies, they were the only ones that had guts to stand up to Bleylock and his cronies because he had created a powerful flux name MetaFlux and had used it to try and take over the galaxy. However, the Allies had gotten themselves together and started fighting back against Bleylock and cronies (some of the planets that he had conquered and was using their supplies and weapons for his own personal gain). She looked at her husband sleeping on top of her and finally came to a conclusion. She was going to do the one thing that she thought she would never do. Tia was going to rebel against her husband.


	2. The Great Escape

**Chapter 2: The great escape**

Tia sat at the end of the long table, focusing on her breakfast and not her husband that was casually reading his newspaper on the other end of the table. Any moment now, Tia thought to herself, as she stuffed another piece of bacon into her swollen mouth. She wasn't even half way through her breakfast and it was already cold because her mouth refused to chew at its normal pace. At that moment she heard the chair scrape back and footsteps walk towards her.

"I'll be at the office honey." Jonathan smiled, as he kissed Tia hard on the mouth. Her painful, already beaten up mouth, acting as if nothing happen the other night or in the last two years. "Try not to miss me." Trust me I won't, Tia thought to herself, as he walked out of the door. Tia quickly rushed to the window to make sure Jonathan got into his car and drove off. She watched him disappear up the road before putting her plan into motion. The cleaning staff only came in every couple of days and the cook had already left, so except from the security guards that guarded the walls away from the mansion, Tia was completely on my own. Quickly, she walked into the kitchen and grabbed the sandwich (that Tia had asked the cook to make for her lunch) an apple and a bottle of water. Then she grabbed some lemon, a knife and a touch light before she headed for the basement. Jonathan had said he would beat her if she ever went into the basement without his permission. She had never tried to push her luck with that order, until now that is. I just pray that Jonathan was his over-confident self and hadn't placed any guards down there, She prayed. Arriving at the door that allowed her into the basement she slowly turned the handle. Her heart stopped for a moment when the door clicked open. Taking a very deep breath she enter the room, careful as she walked down the stairs; looking out for any guards that Jonathan might of placed down here if he was smart for once. To Tia's relief he hadn't and continued down to the end of the corridor that lay at the bottom of the stairs. Another door lay in front of her. Peeping through the door window she could see the man she saw the other night with his feet chained to the back of the wall. Oddly enough his arms were free to do whatever they wanted. Unlike the other door this one was locked and you needed a four digit code to open it. Sadly, Tia did not know this code but she was about to find out. I hope this worked like it did in my year six science fair project, She hoped, as she gently put the stuff she was holding on to the floor next to her. Taking the knife she cut the lemon open then swipe the lemon onto the keypad. She waited for a minute before taking the touch light and shined it onto the pad. Within second's neon purple light from the buttons shone from the keypad. But instead of the four numbers that were meant to shine, only two did. Did I not use enough lemon, Tia wondered to herself as she examines the two digits on the buttons. She nearly laughed to herself when she recognised the order of the numbers. You would base the code on your favourite model sports car wouldn't you Jonathan, Tia laughed, as she dialled the numbers in. The door clicked open. Pulling her hoodie over her face (so he wouldn't see the bruises on her face) and picked up the food from the floor, Tia slowly walked into the room. The man did not move from his spot, as she approached him. Carefully, she began to place the food in front of him.

"I thought Point said he wasn't going to give me any food." The stranger snapped angrily, not moving his face from his arms.

"He isn't." Tia answered, taking the bottle of water from under her arm and placed it next to the apple. From what she could see from the corner of her eye the man was staring at her now. Tia began to stand up and leave. But the man grabbed her wrist. She was so surprised by this that she suddenly lost her balance and fell just next to the man. As Tia pushed herself back up, she heard a gasp. She had not notice that during her fall that her hoodie had fallen off her head and that the light from the corridor was shining directly on her face. She grabbed for the hood and tried to pull it back over her face but the man stopped her before she had the chance. Gently taking her face into his hands he began to examine the bruises and cuts around her. She tried her best not to make eye contact when he examined her.

"What did that bastard do to you?" The stranger spoke out loud. Tia couldn't help but love the way his strong, soft hands stroked her cheek.

"I should go." Tia finally stuttered out, as she tried to leave again. But the stranger pulled her back.

"Why are you married to this monster?" He asked randomly, locking onto her wrists, so she couldn't escape.

"Because I was young and stupid and thought he loved me." Tia replied silently, trying to force the tears away from my eyes. "Please let me go." She begged. Slowly the man let go of her wrists; allowing her to flee.

She lay in bed broken and beaten again that night, since Jonathan couldn't find anyone to 'release his stress' as he liked to call it. Again his body weight was crushing her small body. She needed to get that man out of there and fast, since she didn't know how long she had before Jonathan went down there and guess that someone was feeding him. She had two more nights the max. She lay there, staring at the ceiling. If her estimates were correct then she knew that tomorrow night was her best bet. Tuesday nights was the local pubs strip dance night, where Jonathan would take at least three quarter of his guards with him. She didn't understand why he treated the men out but that meant only ten guards would be guarding the outside wall and they all be guarding the front but not the sides of the other walls. Jonathan thought because they were surrounded by thick forest that no one would try and get through those ways. Stupid Jonathan. Tia couldn't help but smile to herself. You're going to be in a huge shock when you find out he's gone.

The next day was the same. She waited for her husband and the cook to leave before she grabbed some food and headed towards the basement. Quickly typing in the code again the door clicked open, allowing her to enter. This time the man watched her as she approached him and placed the food down him front of him. Tia also sat down in front of him so they were both eye level.

"I plan on breaking you out tonight." Tia stated, tucking a long strand of curly while hair behind her ear.

"And how do you plan to do that." The man asked, watching her every move.

"You don't need to worry yourself about that; I just needed you to know." Tia spoke calmly, before getting off the floor and exiting the room.

"Thank you." The man whispered. Tia smiled as she turned to face him. For once it wasn't a pretend one. It was a real one and those had not appeared for a very long time.

She told her husband she wasn't feeling well (not liked he cared) and went off to bed. Instead of going to bed, she sat on the window sill and waited for her husband and the guards to leave. It was pitch black when she saw the lights on the cars switch on and drive out. She instantly set herself to work, sneaking into her husband's room and nicked some clothing. One set to wear through the forest and another to change into when he reached a clearing of some kind. She also nicked one of his rucksacks to put all of the stuff in. The next thing she did was sneak into her husband's office. She needed to get the key to un-lock those old fashion chains and she had seen him swirling it around his figure earlier, when he had asked her to make her a cup of tea. Earning a punch in the gut but hey at least she knew what the keys were now. Quickly she began searching the top draw of his desk. It wasn't that hard to find the key since it was a big rusty thing hidden in the corner. She was surprised with what she found next when she snatched the key out of the draw. Right on top on Jonathan's desk was a file stamped with 'top secret' on it. Tia couldn't resist but take a quick flip through it; she skipped an heart beat when she saw what was inside it. Inside was everything – and I mean everything- that was related to Bleylock's army. Their strengths and weakness of all their equipment, ranging from tanks, to forts, to spacecraft's and even plans for attacks they were planning to use next month. I hope Jonathan doesn't mind me taking this; Tia sniggered to herself, as she tucked the file under her arm. She needed to make one more stop to the kitchen to place some food in his rucksack. I hope that's enough, Tia thought to herself, as she began running down to the basement. She quickly type in the numbers and run in.

"I brought you some stuff you might need." Tia spoke handing him the clothes. Reaching deep into her pocket she grabbed the key and began un-locking the chains around his ankles. She waited outside, as he changed. When he walked back out Tia handed him the rucksack and file.

"Where did you get this?" He asked when he realised what the file was.

"Jonathan has never been big on security." Tia answered, as she began running up the stairs. "Come on we don't have all night." She shouted back. Well actually we did and almost all of tomorrow, since when Jonathan goes out on his Tuesday nights he slept with the whore then went to the gym and didn't get home to around six o'clock at night. With the man with the golden eyes running behind her, they headed out into the night, running to the southern wall of the complex. The southern wall and the western wall were the only ones with a gate that lead to the forest but going through the southern one was easier.

"If you continue to run south you should reach a river, if you follow that east then you should come to a road and if you continue to travel south then you'll reach a small town called Wars Heath." Tia explained to the man, as she opened the gate. Tia turned to face him, expecting him to dash through the gate but instead he just stood where he was. She wondered why he was standing there, until he uttered out,

"Come with me." Tia could only stand there shocked. For a few moments the only thing that you could hear was the winds strong gust.

"Excuse me." Tia managed to regain her voice, after what seemed like years.

"I said come with me." He repeated, Tia couldn't understand why he was asking this until he explained himself. "I not just going to leave, knowing that he beating you and doing god knows what else to you every night." For two years Tia had waited for someone to come and rescue her from this nightmare. Away from the beatens, away from the horrible sex and away from the fear. So she could live her life however she wanted; most of all she wanted to be free. Sadly however, she shook her head.

"I can't." She whispered, not able to look into the man's beautiful eyes.

"Why can't you?" He asked. You could hear the frustration burning in the back of his of his throat when he spoke.

"When Jonathan finds out your gone, I need to be able to send him in the wrong direction, so you have a chance to reach the town." Tia stated firmly to him, determined to get her point across. When the man began to open his mouth to protest, Tia quickly raised her hands to stop him. "Please you needed to go." Her voice broke as she said it. The man seemed to give up with his protest and began to walk to the gate when he suddenly stopped next to her.

"I don't even know your name." He asked her.

"It's Tia." She answered, willing herself to keep her eyes on the house.

"Thank you for everything Tia and I'm Rocket in case you wanted to know." He laughed as he tried to lift a bit of the tense out of the air. Despite herself a small smile crept on to Tia lips. Suddenly, She felt an extra warmth wrapped around her hand. When she looked down she saw Rocket's hand tightly holding hers. "I swear I'll come back for you." Before Tia had a chance to answer Rocket left through the gate and enter the dark woods. Tia stood there for a moment as she watched him go. Tears streaming down her face. It was sweet what he said, Tia thought, as she began to walk back to the house but she knew if her plan worked, then she wasn't going to survive tomorrow night.


	3. You Came Back

Chapter 3: You came back

Tia sat in her favourite couch in the library. She was trying to focus her mind on to reading her favourite book but so far was having no luck, since her mind kept drifting to Rocket and the advents that would happen tonight. I hope he's all right, Tia thought, as her gazed shifted from the book to the window that showed the southern wall. _'I'll come back for you' the_ words kept repeating themselves over and over again in her head. No stop thinking of him Tia, she ordered herself to turn back to the book. It was past six o'clock and Tia couldn't help but get more nervous. No stays calm Tia, she told herself. Tia grabbed one of the scented candles and lit it, hoping it would calm her down a bit. Just then lights shine through the window, as she peeped out she saw that her husband had returned and that he wasn't alone. Bleylock was with him.

I stayed in the library, not daring to leave my safe haven but it wasn't long, until angry footsteps echo through the hallway outside and the door suddenly burst open. Tia looked up from her book and tried to look surprised. In an instant Jonathan had grabbed her by the neck and threw her on to the floor.

"You little bitch!" He shouted, as he kicked her in the stomach. Tia gasped in pain curled up into a little ball to protect herself. "Where is he?" He shouted, as he kicked her again. Tia could do nothing but stay in her ball, as he continued to kick her.

"Jonathan my good man please calm down." A slimy voice called out from the door way, making Jonathan stop, slowly, Tia looked up from where she was laying to see a well groom man with glowing green eyes walk in. "There's no need for such a mess." Bleylock spoke, only a step away from her now. He made some sort of hand signal to Jonathan before bending down in front of her, "Care to explain what this was doing down in the basement?" He asked, as he held up a long streak of white blonde hair. Oh crap, was all Tia could think of at that moment. I should have really tied my hair up when I went down to visit him. Oh well, it wasn't like I didn't know I was going to be interrogated by him or something but having Bleylock with him seemed to make me a lot more scared then she should have been.

"I felt sorry for him." Tia whispered back, wrapping my arms more tightly around my chest.

"Did you help him to escape?" He asked she could only nod at that moment because she couldn't trust her tongue to speak for her. "Where did you send him?" He questioned, he began playing with the strands of hair that were hanging in front of Tia's face.

"I sent him west." Tia answered. Bleylock nodded to her and turned to Jonathan and the guards.

"Send guards to the west and start searching." He ordered the two huge men that wore some type of military uniform. They both saluted and ran out of the room, barking orders into their walkie talkies. "Do what you want with her." Bleylock snapped at Jonathan, as he to left the room but in a calmer manner compared to the guards. Tia stared hard Jonathan, as she watched him crack his knuckles.

"Trust me when I say you're not going to enjoy this." He hissed, bringing up his fist and slamming it into her face. Tia knew this was it, there was no way he was going to let her live after this. He continues to beat and kick her, until Tia could feel every bone that was in her arms and stomach was broken. Suddenly Jonathan grabbed her by the hair and bangs her face against the wall. Right then something snapped inside her. She didn't if it was from the coalitionist with the wall that had finally smacked some sense into her but she decided right there and then that she had enough. Grabbing the candle that lay on the coffee table she slammed it into Jonathan face. Jonathan screamed in pain and stepped back, falling over the coffee table and onto the floor. Using all the strength in boy, she forced herself up and ran as fast as she could. She could hear Jonathan running after her, cursing her every breath and that he was going to kill her. Ignoring the pain in her upper body she forced herself to run faster, until she reached the southern gate. Thankfully she hadn't bothered to lock and was pulling the heavy gate open when something grabbed her and threw her onto the floor. Jonathan had finally caught up and he was holding sharp and shining in his hand. Before Tia could grasp what the object was, Jonathan slammed it into her chest. She could feel the metal slice into her chest and scream in great agony when it was pulled out again. He kept stabbing her in the chest repeatedly. The pain was horrible, she didn't know if she could take it anymore. No, I won't let this son of a bitch destroy. Never! Energy rippled through Tia like she was some kind of battery. Using all her might she somehow managed to grab a thick brunch beside her and knocked it over his head. She saw him fall then, nearly falling on top of her but instead just landed beside her. Did I kill him? Tia panicked. When she looked down on him, half of his hair was gone and was replaced by what looked like a burn. What the... She thought to herself, that's been she finally noticed that she and the branch she was holding were a light with some kind of blue energy. What is this? She panicked, dropping the stick. As soon as she did it the energy disappeared. She didn't bother to check Jonathans pulse, as she got up, clutching on to her chest and ran through the gate and into the haunted forest.

Tia gained more scratches as she ran through the forest. She couldn't see where she was going and was constantly tripping over loose branches. Despite the pain she went through she forced herself to run, even though vision was getting blurry from the amount of blood lost. (Even though her vision wasn't of much use in the dark anyway) The only time she stopped was when she reached the river. She collapse from exhaustion and blood lost. She had to keep running. She needed to get away from that monster.

"Tia!" Something called through the darkness. Oh no it's him, Tia thought, as she attempted to pull herself away from the voice. When she felt strong arms wrap around her she began to struggle.

"Get away from me." She cried out, as she tried to bash the man away.

"Tia it's me. It's Rocket." Tia heart stopped for a second when her mind started to actually take in everything. That voice, that name. But it can't be, he should be approaching Wars Heath by now. She looked up and even though she couldn't see probably she could just make out the golden eyes glittering in the darkness.

"Rocket!" Tia tried to cry out when she realised it was him. He came back. He came back. Tia thought to herself joyfully over and over again.

"Guys, I found her, she needs medical attention now." Rocket shouted out to someone in the distance. Tia had never felt so happy and so relieved in my life. The little voice that was inside her head that told her to hold on was right. Someone did come.

"Rocket." Tia whispered, as she fell into unconsciousness.

When Tia opened her eyes again, all she could see was light. Am I dead, Tia wondered to herself until her focus began to come back, when she realised it was just a lamp on the bedside table. She lay in a small comfortable bed that she didn't recognise. Where was she? How did she get here? She was just about to push herself out of bed and explore when she heard voices just outside my room.

"She's going to slow us down, we should just lea ..."

"Don't even consider finishing off that sentence Sinedd" An angry voice interrupted the other one. Tia was quite happy that the other man stood up in her defence. Even though they didn't use her name it was quite obvious that she was the one they were talking about.

"Besides, there's no way we can just leave her here, after what she has been through." A female voice added to the conversation, it sounded like it had a strong exotic accent to it.

"Been through?" A much older voice asked. Tia heart froze when she heard what the woman read out next.

"Five broken ribs, each rib is at least broken in three places, her right arm is broken, five stab wounds to the upper chest and three in the lower stomach, her head had been split open, the list just keeps going." The woman paused for a bit, as if she was reading something and trying to come to some conclusion. "And those are just the new ones." The woman finally added.

"New ones!" One of the younger men cried out in outrage. There was a mutter of curses from what Tia except was the older man, since the curse kind of sound old (if you get what that means).

"From what I could estimate, I say she's been physically and sexually abused for about two years." If she could, Tia would of given the woman a round of applause for getting her estimations right. Whoever, the women was she was good. There was a loud thud against the wall that made the wall next to Tia vibrate a little bit, as if someone had just punched it really hard.

"Rocket, you need to calm down." The woman and older man stated at the same time.

"Don't you tell me to calm down?" Rocket shouted back. A cold shiver went down Tia's back, she felt sorry for whoever collided with Rocket's wrist, it sounded more painful than any of the punches that Jonathan had given her and they hurt a lot. Tia felt a little guilty eavesdropping onto other peoples conversations but since they were talking about her then she would let herself off this one time. She tried to listen harder, since everyone had stopped talking and she was trying to make out if they were whispering or something, until she heard Rocket's outburst. "I should of just knocked her out and carried her with me, that way she wouldn't of had to be in that room broken now." Tia couldn't bear to listen to anymore and decided it was time to make my presences known to the people in the other room. She pushed the covers off her (discovering that she was wearing a large t-shirt and shorts) and tried to gently push herself off the bed but her legs were weak and as soon as she tried to stand up she instantly lost her balance and crashed on to the floor, knocking over a lamp that was on the bedside table. That didn't go well, Tia thought to herself, as she made another attempted to push herself off the floor. Suddenly, the door swing open and bright light busted into the room. The light blinded Tia, forcing her to out her arm up and shield her eyes. However, the arm she used was her right arm and when she lifted it, pain travel through her arm faster than a bolt of lightning. The pain was so great that Tia couldn't stop the painful cry that came out of her mouth.

"Tia, are you ok?" Rocket's voice echo through Tia's thoughts. Gently, Tia slowly placed her arm back down to see Rocket kneeling in front of her with a worried expression on his face.

"I'm fine, just checking out the floor that's all." Tia tried to joke but it didn't do much to remove the concern from Rocket's face. Carefully, Rocket wrapped his arms around Tia and with one lift placed her back on the bed. It was only then that Rocket wasn't the only one that had come rushing into the room. A woman with long brown hair, glasses and a white dress approached Tia and began to examine her.

"How long have you been awake dear?" She asked, examining my right arm.

"Twenty seconds I think." Tia answered, she didn't want them to know she had been up any longer then she should have been then they might suspect she had been eavesdropping. "Where am I?" Tia questioned, taking in fully that she was not in her usual bedroom for the first time.

"You're in a motel that based in the small town of Wars Heath." An older man spoke, standing in the door way. He looked like he was in his mid forties, with a red jacket and short blonde hair. Before Tia could ask who these people were, the older man seemed to read her mind and answer the question before she had the chance to say it. "And this is the alliance."


	4. The Breath

Chapter 4: The Breath

Two days had past and they became the happiest of her life. Everyone one was so nice; expect Sinedd. But Rocket told Tia not to worry about it since Sinedd hated everyone. Rocket hardly left her side, unless Sonny or Dame Simbai threaten to make him do dish duty for the rest of the war. No one had tried to push Tia into talking about her experience; that is, until the third day. She had just woken up to find Sonny Blackbones and Rocket, sitting beside her bed.

"Morning Sonny, morning Rocket." She yawned, as she stretched her left arm (since her right arm still killed). Despite only knowing each other for a few days, Tia saw Sonny as a second father to her and even though Sonny had only known her for a limited amount of time as well, he had come to see her as his own daughter.

"Hey kiddo." Sonny smiled, handing her a pile of clothes. "I know you're still not in your best condition but there's a spacecraft coming to take us to Akillian tomorrow and we thought you might want to arrive there in clothes, not a t-shirt and shorts." They all laughed at the idea of Tia arriving at Akillian wearing an over-sized t-shirt and shorts. Many of Rockets visits had included talks about Akillian, Tia couldn't help but go into little day-dreams about living a normal life on the beautiful landscape of Akillian or at least try and live a normal life. She had no idea how she was going to start a new life on Akillian but she was determined to put the past behind her. She managed to shake herself out of her dream to see Sonny and Rocket with worry glints in their eyes.

"Is something wrong Sonny?" Tia asked, since she had never seen Sonny worried. Tia knew he was one of the top leaders of the Alliance; he wasn't meant to get worried.

"Tia, have you planned to go to the police about your husband." He questioned. Tia had not been expecting this and nearly dropped the clothes that she was holding up to inspected. She honestly didn't know what she was going to do about her husband, she had thought about filing for divorce papers, as soon as she got to Akillian but she didn't want to risk the thought of Jonathan tracking her down. She didn't even know if he was still alive. She couldn't even look at them when she gave them her answer.

"I don't even know if I killed him or not." It was barely a whisper but Sonny and Rocket heard it loud and clear.

"What do you mean you don't know if you killed him?" They both asked at the same time. Tia had told no one about how she had escaped from her husband, Dame Simbai had once tried to ask her questions about her experience with Jonathan and what happen when she decided to make a run for it but Tia instantly changed the subject. She still couldn't get her mind around the blue energy that had surrounded her body when she hit Jonathan around the head. She had tried to convince herself that she had just imagined it from the blood lost or something. Tia took a deep breath before she started explaining the night's events; including the blue energy.

"You mean you used the Breath?" Sonny cried out in surprise, after Tia had finished explaining everything.

"The what?" Tia uttered out. What the hell was the breath? She wondered to herself, it sounded familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"The Breath is the name of the Akillian flux." Rocket answered. Tia shook her head in disbelief. It couldn't be possible, you actually had to live on the planet to be able to have the flux; let alone use it. Besides, Bleylock destroyed all of the galaxies flux twenty years ago when he used some kind of weapon to wipe them all out.

"But that's impossible. I've never been to Akillian my whole life, there's no way I could have gained the Breath." Tia argued, she grabbed her head and pulled herself into a little ball. It was a habit that Tia had gotten into when she had been with Jonathan, if she felt in danger or panicked in any way she would pull herself in a ball to protected herself. Right now, she was panicking. She could feel she was on the edge of tears when strong arms wrapped around her.

"It's all right Tia; you won't get in trouble I promise." Rocket whispered, as he pulled her small, delicate body closer to him. The normal Rocket wouldn't have done a thing like this (especially in front of Sonny Blackbones) but there was something about Tia that made him feel different. He thought she was just so brave and strong and he just wanted to protect her from everything evil in the world, especially that filthy husband of hers. Tia uncurled a bit from her ball, so she could wrap her arms around Rocket and cried into his shoulder. Sonny just sat in his seat and watched silently, as Rocket tried his best to comfort Tia. He would have tried to comfort her if he could but the truth was he wasn't very good at this sought thing. The little scene was interrupted when D'jok, Corso and Dame Simbai came bursting through the door.

"They're here." All three of them stated.

"How the hell did they find us?" Sonny howled out in fury, when he snapped himself out of shock from the information that himself, Rocket and Tia had just been told. Tia whole body started to shake in fear and Rocket instantly hugged her tighter but was still being careful that he didn't hurt any of her broken ribs. Corso could only shake his head.

"We don't know but what I can tell you is that they're searching every house and fast." Corso answered. There was a moment of silence before Sonny suddenly snapped into full commander mode and started making orders.

"Ok we'll split into two groups. Rocket, Dame Simbai and D'jok you're with me, Corso, you'll take everyone else. You'll make some diversion to confuse them and then make a run for it. Everyone that's with me we'll be taking the forest, so they can't see Tia." Tia stopped moving for a second when she heard that last part.

"I know I'm not an expert on this but why doesn't everyone just escape through the woods, why is it just me and you guys" She asked, everyone froze in the middle of the room. Even though Tia trusted these people with her life she couldn't help but feel suspicious.

"I promise Tia, I'll explain everything later but right now we need to get out of here." Sonny spoke, Tia wasn't sure but she thought she heard a little plead somewhere hidden in his voice. Slowly she nodded her head. Sonny turned to everyone and gave orders and left to get himself ready. Dame Simbai was the only one to stay behind after everyone left and helped Tia to get changed into her stuff. When she was ready, Sonny came back in with a backpack strapped to his back. "You ready Tia." He asked. She nodded and followed him down stairs where everyone was waiting. Rocket gave her a small smile. After that she felt a little better. Sonny gave one last speech to everyone and thanked the person that let them hide in their house before leaving.

"Sonny stop!" Dame Simbai shouted from the back. All of the men stopped to turn to face her. "Look at her this running is killing her." She pointed to Tia who was just a few steps in front of her; breathing deeply. They had been running at full speed non-stop ever since they left the house. Tia had been feeling pain ever since she left the house but see refused to show she was weak, not now when everyone depended on her to be strong right now. However, she couldn't control herself when she began throwing up blood. She rested her head against the cool tree bark that she had been vomiting next too. Sweat poured from Tia's face. Rocket walked over to Tia and strapped the rucksack he had been carrying to the front of his chest.

"Come on Tia." He whispered softly, holding out his hand. Tia stared at it for a moment before taking it and letting Rocket swing her onto her back. Rocket was surprised to feel how light she was, he probably wouldn't know if she was there at all if she didn't have her arms wrapped around his shoulders. He knew she was severely underweight from the worries he had over heard from Dame Simbai and Sonny but this was ridiculous. Tia instantly slumped against Rocket, exhaustion finally over coming her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered into Rockets ear before passing out. Rocket gripped onto Tia's hand before he began running again.

"Tia, Tia, wake up." Rocket's soft echoed through Tia dreams, her eyes fluttered half way open, before closing them again and turned over; muttering some odd curse and went back to sleep again. Rocket covered his mouth to stop laughing out loud. Rocket had carried her for eight hours straight before Sonny told them to stop and have a quick break. He tried nudging her again, this time making her bolt upright. She was about to say something but stopped when she saw Rocket kneeling next to her. The fear on her face was replaced by a happy one. "Linner is ready." Rocket smiled.

"Linner?" Tia questioned, looking a little confused.

"Yeah, its lunch and dinner put together, since we've missed both of them." He joked. Tia giggled at his joke and then let Rocket help her up. She almost freaked herself out a minute ago when Rocket tried to wake her up. She thought Rocket had been Jonathan and was about to cry out for a plead for forgiveness when she saw him. Shaking the silly thoughts from her head she sat herself down between Rocket and D'jok.

"Thanks." She muttered, as she took what looked like soup from Sonny. She nearly spat it back out when she tasted it but forced herself to swallow it. I need my strength; Tia tried to tell herself, as she forced more of the stuff down.

"Sorry but no one on this team can cook." D'jok joked quietly in my ear, so his father couldn't hear us (since it's his cooking everyone was trying to 'eat' at the moment) hearing this Tia started having an un-controllable fit as she tried to suppress her laughter; which she was failing at miserably.

"What's so funny?" Sonny eyed us suspiciously front across the fire. Because of Tia's fit D'jok himself started laughing, making everyone stare at them like they were nuts.

"Nothing Sonny." Tia breathes, finally gaining control of herself as she began wiping away the tears that had formed in her eyes. "We were just..." She stopped when she got the wind knocked out of her when a huge impact forced her forward onto the ground. She didn't know what it was except that it was some kind of animal because she could hear its growls behind her. The next moment it let out a whine and fell off Tia's back.

"Molehounds." Sonny hissed, as Rocket helped Tia back on to her feet. The air was suddenly filled with howls from the darkness of the trees. "Rocket! Take Tia and run." Sonny yelled at them as he, D'jok and Dame Simbai, took guns hidden under their t-shirts and started shooting. Before Tia could protest Rocket grabbed her hand and ran.


	5. Molehounds

Chapter 5: Molehounds

Rocket swore to himself over and over again. He was so focused on getting Tia the hell out of that area that he hadn't taken five seconds to grab his bag. Without his bag, he didn't have his gun. Without his gun, there was no way he could protect Tia from the Molehounds. A shiver went down his back when he thought of those monsters that were following them. There was no way he was going to let those things catch up to them. Tia on the other hand was just ignoring the pain that was burning through her chest and was focusing on running for her life. They could have gone faster but they had no flash light to help them find their way through the darkness of the forests, so they had to watch where they were going with only the moonlight to help guide them, earning cuts from out stretched bunches and sticky leaves and twigs getting stuck in their hair. Despite all of the worries that were chasing them, Rocket couldn't help but think how athletic Tia was. Even with all her injuries she had stayed at a constant pace with him and hadn't slow down once.

"Rocket look out!" Tia yelled out, bringing him back to reality but it was too late. Before Rocket could decide what was going on a Molehound knocked Rocket backwards; Rocket went flying into the tree behind him and was trying to wrestle the dog off him. "Rocket!" Tia shouted, as she ran over to help him but before she could reach him she also went flying when a Molehound bashed into her side but instead of knocking into a tree, she went rolling down a hill.

"Tia!" She could hear Rocket yell from the top of the hill. But she couldn't yell anything back because she was too busy trying to protector herself while she went tumbling downs the hill. After what seemed like forever she finally ended up in a muddy pool. Gross! She thought to herself, as she began to drag herself out of the mud. She instantly stopped when she heard growling from somewhere nearby. Looking up she came face to face with the Molehound. Tia caught her breath, as she stared into the eyes of the monster. It looked like a greyhound with a twisted moles head, with longer fangs and claws. Tia wondered why the Mole hound wasn't attacking until the moonlight shone onto the Molehounds face. It's blind, Tia cried out silently to herself. As long as she didn't make any sudden movements, she would be all right. Slowly the Molehound move his head forward and began sniffing her. Tia forced her body to stay still while the hound sniffed her. She closed her eyes and prayed for it to be over quickly. Why isn't it attacking me? Tia wondered. Sure it's blind but surely it could still smell me. That's when commonsense finally hit her. It's the mud; the mud's covering up my scent. She reminded still and let the Molehound continue to sniff her. After what seemed like a century (but was really a few seconds) Tia could hear the animal ran away in the distance. Quietly she stood up, she took her time to look around first and see if there were any other hounds around before letting herself breath properly again. Rocket! Tia thought suddenly, turning her face to the top of the hill.

"Rocket!" Tia cried out. She listened for a few moments before trying again but nobody answered. There was no sound; not even a Molehound growling. What if he's hurt? Tia panicked. Instinct took over as she began pulling herself up the hill, she slipped down a few times but somehow -through all of the pain- she managed to get herself up to the top. When she looked around, she couldn't see anyone or anything. She called out Rockets name again but she still received no answer. "Rocket! ROCKET!" She shouted out more desperately. Tears were beginning to fill her eyes as she became more and more desperate. Where are you? She prayed that he was all right. She looked around the area where Rocket had been last. She could barely see anything and nearly fainted when she touched some kind of liquid and released it was blood. She suddenly heard the crunching of leaves somewhere in the distance.

"Rocket! Rocket is that you." She called out, as she walked towards the crunching noise. She tried to follow the sound as best as she could but kept losing it. Please be all right, she prayed again, as she heard the crunching sound again. She must have been searching for nearly an hour now or at least that's what it felt like. She followed the noise until she stepped out into an opening.

"Put your hands up girl and come towards us slowly." A firm voice order from the shadows. Tia was suddenly blinded when a million lights switched on. When she was able to look again saw that she was surrounded by men in uniform; all holding guns that were pointing directly at her chest. When she finally realised what was going on she tried to make a run for it but some of the men had sneaked up behind her and blocked her path. She twisted around franticly, trying to find some way to escape.

"Miss Point, we need you to come with us." A man's voice spoke out. Tia turned to see a man with an artificial eye and white lab coat. Just behind him, Tia could see a lab assistant holding up a camera behind him. Why is that man filming me? Tia wondered, before turning her attention back to the bald man that was now walking steadily towards her. She stepped away from him, as he came closer and closer.

"Where's Rocket?" Tia demanded she wasn't going anywhere until she knew that Rocket was ok. The man stopped for a second before he began walking towards her again.

"I don't know but I can assure you he's probably dead." The man replied and quickly made a hand gesture. Before Tia could do anything, two man in uniforms came up behind and grabbed her. She struggled with all her might but with no success. "Drug her; we don't want her doing anything stupid, especially if Bleylock wants her alive." He commanded the two men. They both nodded and dragged Tia off to one of the vehicles. Tia was sinking deeper and deeper into depression. Not because of what was happening now, she hadn't been paying attention to what the man had said. All she could do was think about was Rocket, she couldn't bare it if he was dead.

"Rocket!" She wailed in pain. Suddenly, she could feel the blue energy burn inside her and before she could do anything raw power explored out of her. She had no idea what happened next because she blacked out.

_Tia stood in the middle of an empty room; there was no light, no furniture, no nothing. What is this place? Tia wondered to herself. She wasn't sure what was going on but she had a really bad feeling about being here. She didn't realise that someone was calling for her until she stopped trying to figure out what the bad feeling was. Slowly turning around she saw Rocket standing a few steps behind her._

"_Rocket!" Tia cried out in delight and began running towards him. Tears of happiness sprang from her eyes but she instantly stopped when someone appeared behind him and held a sharp blade that glittered around his throat. Out of fear she stepped back but that was all she did. She wasn't going to run and leave Rocket with that monster that held him captive._

"_Hello honey." Jonathan hissed, slowly drawing the blade across his throat. _

"No! Please stop, I'll do anything, Please I'm begging you." Tia pleaded over and over again, screaming at the top of her voice. Everyone that was in the room, watching over her while she slept, ran to her but one specific person got to her first.

"Tia, Tia wake up." Rocket cried out, trying to shake her gently awake but she continued to cry out in distress. He shook her a little harder and this time Tia sat bolt upright; shaking. She took once glance at Rocket and flung her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. Rocket couldn't understand what she was saying because she was speaking to fast but he tried his best to calm her down. He held her as tightly as he could without hurting her because she had gained some new injuries and had made her old injuries worse. Everyone in the room quietly walked outside, so the two could have some alone time. When Tia had finally calmed down a bit, she was able to speak probably.

"Rocket, what happen to you?"She asked, looking at Rocket properly for the first time. He had a bandage wrapped around one of his arms and his forehead had stitches.

"I managed to snap the Molehounds neck before it bit my head off but when I tried to get up I slipped on my own blood and fell unconscious in the bushes." He laughed at his own stupidity, making Tia smile a bit as well. She couldn't believe she had walked straight past him and fallen straight into a trap. "The others finally found me and brought me back to consciousness then we went searching for you. The next thing we knew there was an explosion and we found you." Rocket smiled but Tia could see it didn't reach his eyes.

"Where did the explosion come from?" Tia asked, as the feeling of a headache began to form in Tia's head. She had a feeling she was suppose to remember something important but couldn't put her finger on it.

"You mean you don't remember anything." He asked.

"No sorry." Tia tried to smile. There was something off about Rocket but Tia wasn't sure what it was. "Is something wrong Rocket?" She questioned. Something shone in Rockets eyes but it disappeared as soon as it came, so Tia couldn't guess what it was.

"What makes you think that?" He tried smiling again but it still didn't reach his eyes.

"Nothing, just something seems different about you." Tia answered. Rocket fake grin grew even bigger.

"No, nothing's wrong, just tired." He replied. Tia tried to question more but a sudden yawn escaped her mouth. "You should probably get some more rest." Rocket suggested, getting of the bed. "I'll have Dame Simbai come and check on you." Before another word could be said Rocket walked out of the room.

Rockets thoughts were a mess. How did she learn to read him so quickly? How was he going to protect her from the truth if she could see that well? He wouldn't have to know the truth himself if he didn't see that camera on the floor when they found Tia laying unconscious. Why oh why did he have to pick it up? Through all of the odds, they had all managed to get to the spacecraft that had been waiting for them, along with all of the other pirates. Rocket sighed to himself. He had already told Dame Simbai what was going on and asked if she could keep people out of Tia's room, until he had talked to Sonny. At this thought he realised he had just walked past Sonny's door. Taking a step back he knocked on the door. He waited, as the door slid open and walked inside.

"What can I do for you Rocket?" Sonny asked, with his head bent over the document that Rocket had been sent to steal. He had frown lines on his forehead, like he wasn't interested in Rocket at all but on the piece of paper that was in front of him. Rocket decided to jump straight to the point.

"She doesn't know?" Sonny's attention immediately focused on Rocket after hearing his statement.

"Are you sure?" He questioned. That was why a lot of people liked Sonny, he knew exactly what you were talking about and didn't go into the whole 'what do you mean?' thing that most people found very annoying. Rocket knew he wouldn't have played it in front of everyone if he knew what was on it. Sonny thought it might have something the Allies could use against Bleylock but what they saw was more shocking then anything they could have expected.

"Positive, she doesn't know anything about the explosion." Rocket exclaimed. Sonny bent his head down, everyone that knew him, knew that he was trying to figure out some answer to a difficult question. The possibility of keeping it a secret was out of the questioned because as soon as Rocket knew Tia was going to be ok he handed Sonny the video tape, allowing Sonny to play it in front of everyone. "We can't tell her." Rocket answered for him. Sonny looked at him in complete shock.

"I don't know Rocket." Sonny replied. The doubt in Rockets answer was clear on his face, as he ran it through his head.

"If we tell her it will destroy her." Rocket shouted back. He hadn't meant to shout but something inside him snapped. Sonny bent his head over his desk again for a few moments before looking back up.

"All right we won't." Rocket slid into a chair next to him, as he felt relief flow through him. This plan might of worked to if they had realised someone was listening outside the door.

Tia was laying in her bed worried. She was extremely tired but she couldn't stop worrying about Rocket. Something was very off about him. She sat up when she heard the door swish open, thinking it was Dame Simbai again but was shocked to find Sinedd again.

"Hey Tia, how are you feeling?" Sinedd asked politely, Tia didn't like the way he had said it. It sounded friendly but there seemed to be something scary behind it.

"I'm good I guess." Tia answered, watching him carefully as Sinedd sat in the chair next to her bed.

"That's good to hear. I mean after everything that happen you must feel terribly guilty killing all those people." Tia froze at Sinedd's last remark.

"I...I don't understand." Tia uttered out, feeling a dark chill crawl up her spine.

"Oh don't you remember, here this will help you remember what happened." He finished passing her the holo player. She snatched it out of his hands and watched the horror she had unleashed two nights ago.


	6. Monster

Chapter 6: Monster

Rocket felt his muscles relax a bit when the hot water hit his shoulders. How did this happen? He deliberates with himself. It had happen so fast, he and Sonny were trying to make plans on how to tell the other pirates the situation when Dame Simbai suddenly beep them and told them to get to Tia's room asap.

_Rocket and Sonny ran full speed down to the medical room; it didn't take long to hear the screams of anger and distress coming from Tia's room. They could hear Dame Simbai trying to plead with her to calm down but it seemed to have no success. _

"_What's going on?" Sonny demanded, when Rocket and Sonny entered the room. The commotion died down for a few seconds when Tia and Dame Simbai turned to see who had entered the room. Rocket's heart twisted when he saw Tia's face streaked with tears._

"_How could you not tell me?" She accused, pointing her finer at him in an accusing manner. Her finger was shaking with intense fury. "How could you not tell me I'm a monster?" and with all her might threw a holo-player at Rocket. He managed to dodge the attack just in time as it went flying past his head. Before it crashed on the floor Sonny managed to catch it and began to examine the device._

"_Tia please..." Rocket tried to beg but Tia instantly cut him off._

"_Get out, get out!" She screamed and began to throw random objects, forcing everyone to retreat from the room. When the door closed behind them, they listened for a moment and could hear only silence, then they could hear Tia muffled sobs behind the door. _

"_How the hell did she find out?" Rocket shouted at Dame Simbai, she didn't answer straight away because she was in shock with Rocket's sudden outburst. Rocket had to admit that he was shocked himself because he was always able to control his emotions. But seeing Tia like that; angry at him when all he wanted to do was protect her hit him hard in the gut. _

"_I don't know," Dame Simbai stammered out when she overcame her shock and tried to explain. "We were talking about the Wambas planet and my time there and she asked if she could see any pictures, so I left to get them. I swear I was only gone for a minute but when I came back I found her distress and vomiting in the toilet. I don't know how she found out" Rocket calmed down a little after that, so if Dame Simbai didn't tell her how did she find out?_

"_I think I know." Sonny answered, like he was reading Rockets mind. How does he do that? He thought as he turned to face Sonny. "Someone showed her."Sonny showed them the holo-player that Tia had chucked at him. He turned it around so they could watch Tia being dragged away by two of Bleylocks men; suddenly a blue energy surrounds and explodes, wiping out everyone in the area. _

Rocket slammed his fist into the wall. He was going to kill the sick son of a bitch for telling her and he was sure that bastard was Sinedd. But he couldn't do anything about it. Sonny had also guess it was Sinedd as well but they had no evidence to back up their points. They had checked security cameras but they had found the guards knocked out and the tapes erased. How could he do it? She had done nothing wrong. Yes, she did kill those people but she didn't want to or mean to. Her actions for the past week had shown that, she had refused to see anyone or eat anything. Dame Simbai was getting so desperate that she had started to count the peas to see if Tia even nicked one. But every time she went to check on her (when she was asleep because she would let no one in when she was awake) she found everything still there; including the peas. He wished he could do something but there was nothing he could do, he had tried talking to her but all she would do was start chucking stuff at him. Besides, how could anyone judge her when each man on this ship had killed hundreds more of Bleylocks men in similar circumstances? He was just glad no one judge her because of it. The men on the ship were a little scared of her at first but when they heard what she was doing to herself everyone felt pity for her. It was because of her that she had helped turn the tides of the war on to their side and not to mention saved Rockets life. He finished his shower and put some fresh clothes on. He needed to think of some plan to talk to Tia.

"Well Rocket, it's nice to find out you decide to wash every now and again." Sinedd smirked from the doorway. Anger burned through Rocket but he forced himself to stay calm and ignore, which was hard to do when Sinedd was standing beside him. "You know I feel kind of sorry for you Rocket, I mean you actually find yourself a girlfriend and she turns out to be a murderous whore." Everything happened in a blur at that moment. Sinedd found himself forced against the wall with a knife to his throat.

"You sick son of a bitch, how could you say that after everything you're putting her through." Rocket snapped as he pressed the knife closer to his throat. He probably would have ripped his throat out there and then if D'jok and Micro-Ice hadn't stopped him.

"Rocket stopped" Micro-Ice shouted, as D'jok pulled Rocket away from Sinedd.

"You crazy bastard." Sinedd shouted when Rocket was standing safely away from him, rubbing his neck to check that the knife didn't pierce his skin. Realising what he did Rocket began to calm down but just enough so he could think straight. He still wanted to rip Sinedd's neck out. Sinedd started screaming abuse at him but Micro-Ice lead Rocket away while D'jok dealt with Sinedd. Every step he took, Rocket's fury began to die down, until there was barely any left.

"Rocket, what happened back there?" Micro-Ice asked. It took Rocket a moment to actually respond to the question but before had a chance D'jok answer it for him.

"It's because he insulted Tia." D'jok spoke walking up behind him, nearly scaring both of them to death.

"I swear D'jok you have got to stop hanging out with your dad; seriously, you're nearly as bad at sneaky up on people like he is." Micro-Ice complained. Now usually Rocket would complain and say he was being a drama queen. But it was on occasions like this, he had to agree with him. D'jok only rolled his eyes at Micro-Ices comment.

"Micro-Ice, I share half of his DNA, of course I'm going to inherit some of traits." D'jok joked. Micro-Ice made some kind of face but a smile still crept on to his face. Despite the anger that was still burning inside Rocket couldn't help but let out a little smile as well. But the atmosphere turned serious again when D'jok turned to Rocket and said. "You need to talk to Tia."

"I know but she hates me." Rocket stated miserably. At first he had no idea why but from what he could make out from her screams she called him a liar. It took him a few days to realise what she meant. She had been beaten and abused for two years and when she turned to help, no one even tried. So when Rocket came along and rescued her, she began to trust again. But when he didn't tell her that she killed a lot of people -even if they were going to throw her in a dungeon- she felt betrayed that she had done something so horrible and hadn't been told about it. Dame Simbai had said that she had been through a lot and was highly unstable at the moment but Rocket couldn't help but think there was something else behind it.

"I know, but I think you're the one that can reach her." D'jok explained, breaking through Rockets thoughts, before he could ask why D'jok interrupted him again. "Don't ask me why call it gut instinct, now will you go to her please." After he said that something inside Rocket changed. He quickly muttered something that he even didn't understand and he marched his way to the medical room. D'jok and Micro-Ice could only smile when they saw the new determination in Rockets face.

"He is totally in love with that girl." Micro-Ice laughed, as he watched Rocket disappear down the hall. D'jok could only smile at Micro-Ices comment. They had both known Rocket since they started nursery and had been inseparable ever since, along with their other friends that sadly weren't here. They also knew he was too stubborn to fall in love but there was something about Rocket that made the guys think that this time was different.

"Speaking of love and DNA, how are you and dad holding up." Micro-Ice asked.

"Excited as usual, he can't wait to get back to mum," D'jok laughed at the memory of his father when the navigator came in and announced they would be home tomorrow, "and I can't wait to see Mei and little Rosie." He laughed at another memory of how he reacted when he had found out as well.

"I know what you mean man, I can't wait to get home and see Yuki again." Micro-Ice smiled as he thought of his love waiting for him at home. After day dreaming about their love ones at home for a little while they headed towards the lunch room to get something to eat and hoped that Rocket and Tia would be ok.

This was not going well. Dame Simbai had left to give him and Tia some alone time but so far he had not built up the nerves to even enter the room. Well, if I'm going to do this I might as well do it now, Rocket argued with himself. Taking a deep breath Rocket finally managed to open the door, he stayed low just in case Tia chucked something at him. But when he didn't hear anything slam against the wall he became suspicious. Quietly opening the door; Rocket peeped through the door. He saw Tia soundlessly asleep. Closing the door as quietly as he could behind him, Rocket tipped toed over to Tia's bed and sat in one of the seats next to the bed. His heart twisted painfully when he saw her appearance (he hadn't been able to see her probably because he was too busy dodging objects) her creamy complexion was a sickly pale, bags hang from her eyes from no sleep and her slim complexion had turned into a skeleton. Tia what have you been doing to yourself, Rocket thought, as he brushed a bit of hair out her face. He decided to let her sleep since it looked like she needed it. He spent his time watching her sleep, since he had nothing better to do. The clock turned from six to eight o'clock slowly but Rocket continued to watch her sleep. Dame Simbai walked in a few times to check on them but despite that Rocket had no one to talk to. A loud yawn escaped his lips and pushed his dreadlocks back. A sudden scream caught Rockets, when he looked up he saw that Tia's breathing had grown rapidly, her eyes were firmly shut and she kept muttering things in her sleep. Rocket learnt forward and grabbed Tia's hand.

"Tia wake up." He whispered gently, she seemed to calm down for a minute but then it started again, this time ten times worse.

"No, please don't." She begged tears began to pour from her closed eyes. Rocket honestly didn't know what to do, he kept trying to shake her awake but she won't wake up. She just kept pleading and begging for someone to stop.

"Tia, please wake up!" Rocket shouted giving her another shake. Thankfully this time Tia woke up. "Tia, are you all right?" He asked but Tia instantly pushed him away.

"Please go away, please." She begged, while she cried to herself. Despite what she said Rocket was not going to leave her along; especially in this condition.

"Tia, I'm sorry I lied to you but I was only trying to protect you. Please don't think you're some kind of monster because you aren't." He tried to plead with her. Rocket thought it worked for a second when she seemed to calm down for a second.

"You just don't get it; I was monster even before I killed all those men." She whispered and instead of crying again she froze like she had just died or something.

"How could you say that?" Rocket cried out, as anger soared through his body again. "You've done nothing to call yourself a monster; you've having been suffering beatings and rape for two years, why do you call yourself that?" He demanded the next thing she said was nothing he was expecting but it sent shock waves through his body when she shrieked it out in a deep pain that had been haunting her for nearly two years.

"Because I killed my baby!"


	7. Trust and Confessions

Chapter 7: Trust and Confessions

Tia couldn't believe she had just said that out loud. For years she had kept all the pain of losing her child locket up and in three seconds she had yelled it out to the one person she didn't want to admit it to. The memory of what happened turned Tia dead inside. Her whole body went limp and silent tears fell from her eyes. Meanwhile Rocket could only stare at her, he was not expecting that. Shaking himself, Rocket learnt forward and grabbed Tia's cold lifeless hands in his warm ones.

"Please Tia, tell me what happened." Rocket asked, he didn't know why he asked it but he could see that it was eating her on the inside. He was willing to do anything to make her feel better. Tia looked at him for a moment and then turned away with a war splashed across her face. She was trying to decide if she should tell him or not since she didn't want him to hate her. In the end she decided she was going to tell him, since she already said that she had killed her first child. She took a deep breath before she began to explain...

_I've only seen a doctor twice after I married Jonathan, one when Dame Simbai healed me from my wounds I gained trying to escape Jonathan; the other time is when I lost my child. I had two miscarriages before I found out I was pregnant for the third time. I told Jonathan instantly because I thought it might calm him down and make him take on new responsibilities if he realised he was going to be a father. At first I thought he had taken being a father seriously because he tried to be nice and took care of me and didn't try to harm me. Months past and I became bigger and bigger. I was so excited; I had always wanted to be mum. One night when I was about seven months pregnant, I was sitting in the library reading a new book that Jonathan had let me order. It was a fairytale book and I was reading out loud because I had read that it was good to talk to the baby when the door burst open and Jonathan walked in. I could tell he was drunk because I could smell the alcohol all the way from the other side of the room. Before I could ask what was wrong he grabbed me by the hair and threw me against the wall. _

"_Jonathan, please think of the child." I begged but I think I made it worse since he slammed his fist into my gut. I tried to get him to stop but he just kept beating me. I tried to defend my stomach but I didn't do a good job, since when he knocked me to the floor I saw blood come from my womb. It seemed that Jonathan got bored at that point because he began to walk out of the room._

"_Jonathan please, some things wrong, the babies hurt!" I screamed after him but he just ignored me and left. The only phone in the house was in Jonathan's office, so I had to drag myself all the way there. I passed out after that from blood loss but I woke up again in hospital. That's when I found out I couldn't have any more children and that my little girl was dead. My little Lily._

Tia couldn't speak anymore because it was just too painful. She had always wanted to be a mother and when she was pregnant she had spent a lot of her money creating a nursery for the baby and baby books. She never found out why Jonathan started beating her but she assumed she must have got over confident with Jonathans niceness and said something she shouldn't have said. Tia couldn't control the tears leaking from her eyes. She felt Rockets hand on her face and was forced to look at him.

"Don't you ever say that you killed your own child?" Rocket stated firmly, making Tia cry even more.

"But I did, she was my child Rocket, mine!" Tia shouted back at him. "I was her mother, I should of protector her, I should have dragged myself faster to the telephone, I should of..." Before she could say anymore, Rocket gripped her hard around her arms.

"Listen to me Tia. You did not kill your child, that bastard did. You did everything you could to save her, he didn't even try, to help you when his own child was dying, so don't you ever say it's your fault." Rocket tried to say as gently as he could but there was some kind of sharpness in his voice that made Tia listen. In the end, she couldn't take it no more and began crying even harder. The only thing Rocket could do was hold Tia in his arms while he rocked her back to sleep.

Rocket woke up when he heard the sound of something clinking together. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw Dame Simbai placing food down on the table.

"Sorry to wake you, I was just putting both of your breakfasts on the table." She explained. That was when he realise that he had Tia sleeping on top of him. Despite feeling a bit weird being caught in this position, he didn't move because he didn't want to wake up Tia.

"Thanks Dame Simbai, I'll eat it when Tia wakes up." He exclaimed, stroking a piece of long white blond hair that was hanging in front of her angelic face and pushed it behind her delicate ear. He didn't understand why but he just loved her hair, it was so soft and strong, just like her.

"I'll come back and check on you in a while." Dame Simbai smiled and left the room. Rocket wasn't one hundred percent sure but he swore he saw some kind of laughter hidden behind that face. He shrugged it off and turned his attention back to his sleeping beauty. Wait, his sleeping beauty, Rocket shook his head. Since when did she become his sleeping beauty? Just then he felt Tia stir, like she was having another bad dream but she instantly relax again. He watched as Tia eyes slowly fluttered open and then closed again. She snuggled into Rockets chest before suddenly sitting up.

"Oh Rocket, I'm sorry." Tia whispered, bending her head down so her hair could hide the blush that was warming up her cheeks. But Rocket did see it and was now trying to prevent himself laughing out loud, so he wouldn't embarrass her even more.

"Good morning to you too." Rocket smiled; trying to dismiss what had just happen he added "Would you like some breakfast?" Still keeping her head low she nodded. Rocket learnt over and grabbed the two trays that both held scramble egg and strawberries. She muttered her thanks and began to eat the scrabble egg. They had very little conversation, since last night's events still reflected on them now. Tia was trying with all her might to not stuff all of her food down at once because she had not eaten for nearly a week. Just as she finished her last strawberry, Sonny came in the room.

"I would just like to let you know that we'll be approaching Akillian in about an hour." Sonny cheered with a child like smile beaming off his face. Tia could see a big smile spread across Rockets face as well, she knew Rocket had been excited to get home and see his family again. He always brought it up in conversations. She also knew that Sonny was looking forward to meeting his family as well. Tia also felt happy to know the news; even though she had no one there she was excited to start a new life. To get rid of everything bad. It was nearly over. At least that's what Tia thought until the space craft suddenly twisted out of control. She would have fallen off the bed if Rocket hadn't been sitting next to her and grabbed her just in time.

"What was that?" She questioned, as Rocket helped her sit up right. Both of Sonny and Rockets faces had turned upside down into a frown.

"Someone's trying to board us." Sonny answered. Tia watched Sonny as he processing the situation through his head but was interrupted when a screech sounded through the microphone.

"Sorry to interrupted your flight Commander Blackbones but I'm afraid you have something that belongs to us. Bring us the girl or we will come aboard and get her. You've got five minutes to decide." With that the message cut off. Fear shook through Tia's body. No, please not when I'm so close to getting away. Tears reappeared in Tia's eyes but she quickly swiped them away. If she was going to go, then she wasn't going to go out like a baby. Pushing herself off the bed, she began to walk to the door. But Sonny stood in her way.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, blocking her way to the door.

"Simple, I'm giving myself up." She replied, trying to push herself past him again but he held her back firmly.

"What do you mean give yourself up?" Rocket demanded, she hadn't realised that he had follow close behind her. She bit her bottom lip nervously, why does he always have this effect on me? She thought to herself as she tried to find the words to explain herself.

"I'm not going to make every man give up their life for me. It's not worth it." She stated firmly to both of them. Rocket and Sonny looked at each other; they seemed to be having some silent communication before Rocket gave him a nod.

"But if we give you up more lives will be lost." Sonny claimed. Tia wasn't sure but she could feel her eyebrows disappear into her hair line. She didn't know what to say except...

"Pardon?" She questioned. She would have said 'what' but her parents had raised her to polite and she hadn't been able to drop the habit. Especially since she had lived with Jonathan. Sonny turned around and rubbed the back of his neck, as he tried to figure out how to explain himself.

"The weapon that wiped out all of the fluxes and gain Bleylock power was created by me and a friend." He stopped for a second to look at Tia. Tia had gone into complete shock, she didn't see Sonny as the weapon making type but she knew there was more to the story, so she stayed silent and let Sonny explained. "We hadn't realised Bleylocks intentions at the time, we thought we were making it to improve the technoid football team but when we realised what was really going on we tried to stop him but it was too late." Tia heart leaped in sympathy for Sonny, he hadn't meant to start the war, he had been tricked.

"But I still don't get what this has to do with me?" She asked, completely confused now.

"You see to create the Meta flux we had to use a little bit of another flux to create it, the Breath." As soon as Sonny said the Breath, everything in Tia's mind clicked together, panicked ran through her whole body. Tia knew that she was probably the last person left in the galaxy with the breath.

"They want to use me to create another weapon." She spoke out the one thing that no one else was willing to speak. Sonny nodded his head. "Why me?" Tia cried out, as she fell to her knees. The fire that had to be burning through had suddenly gone. She couldn't hold herself together no more. She had already killed too many people; she didn't want to kill any more. Rocket bent in front of her and placed his warm hands on her cheeks.

"Tia, do you trust me?" Tia looked up at him like he had just said the craziest thing in the universe. She nodded, not trusting her tongue to speak for her.

"Then I also need you to trust Sonny, no matter what happens we will not let Bleylock have you."


	8. The Fight for the Flux

Chapter 8: The Fight for the Flux

Rocket and Sonny had to act fast. Sonny ran off to motion everyone to get ready for battle, while Rocket dragged Tia off to find somewhere safe for her to hide. He didn't like the idea of where he was taking her but he thought it was the best place to hide her.

"I know it's not the most comfortable place but I'm pretty sure it's the last place they'll check." He stated, tapping the numbers into the padlock. The door zoomed open to reveal a small cell room where they kept the prisoners. Rocket wished he had a torch or something he could give her but he didn't have enough time to run to his room and back. "I'm sorry there's nothing better I can do." He told her sadly but Tia just shook her head.

"Trust me; I think you and the rest are doing more than enough." She smiled, making Rocket smile as well. Suddenly, Rockets watch started beeping; he only had a minute left. He knew he should head to the others now and get himself ready but he didn't want to leave Tia here in just a dark room all alone. He racked his brain to think of something but nothing came to him. In the end he pressed something on the screen of his watch and passed it to Tia.

"This is a panic button." Rocket explained and placed it into her hands, "If anything happens, I want you to press it and I will come straight here." He closed Tia's hands around the small device, holding his own hands on top of hers for a few seconds before regretfully letting go. Before Rocket turned to leave he gave Tia one last piece of advice. "Don't leave this room unless I, Sonny or Dame Simbai come and get you. No one else, understood." Tia only nodded to his order, making Rocket feel a bit more relaxed. He turned to leave but before he had a chance Tia suddenly leapt forward and grabbed his hand.

"Please be careful." She begged, gripping his hand tighter. She couldn't bare the thought of losing him but actually losing him for real was unthinkable, she would prefer to chuck herself off a bridge then live without Rocket in her life. She owned him so much. Rocket smiled at her and before he realised what he was doing he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"I will." He whispered and left, shutting the door behind him and ran to collect his gun and everything from his room, leaving Tia in total darkness.

"Hold the line!" Sonny commanded above the sound of dying men and bullets flying over their heads. Something slamming into the barrier the Pirates had put up, made Sonny look down to see that Rocket had slid in beside him and was loading up his gun. "Decided to finally join us then Rocket?" Sonny joked as he ducked to dodge a bullet that barely missed his head. Rocket grinned back at him, as he finally finished loading his gun.

"What's the situation?" Rocket questioned, turning serious and keeping his head low from the oncoming lead.

"It's a full army but the halls are too small so they can't come at us all at once." He answered, leaning over the barrier again and shooting at some of Bleylock's man that had got a bit too close to their lines. Rocket leaned over the boxes and began to start shooting. Whoever organise these troops, relied too much on size because Sonny's men were making their own barriers by shooting down the other troops. When Bleylock's men tried to push their dead comrades out of the way or step over the other men they were quickly shot down. They thought they were doing well holding them back, until Rocket saw something fly through the air and land a step away from the barrier.

"Grenade, everyone move!" Rocket shouted, as he grabbed Sonny and someone else by the collar of their jackets and pulled them back. Just in time as well because as soon as they fell back a large explosion burned in front of them, blowing the men that were too slow to move up and sending pieces of their blood and flesh against the walls. Sonny shouted orders to everyone that was ok to drag the wounded to barrier point two. Shifting his gun to one off his hands and grabbing someone that had burns all over their face and hands Rocket began pulling him back to the end of the corridor, shooting any of the enemy that was quickly approaching through the heavy grey smoke. Sweat was pouring down Rockets face from all of the effort to pull the screaming man all the way to the other defensive post and trying to keep himself sane through all of this commotion at the same time. As he reached the barrier point his phone watch started to ring. "Hello." He answered when he saw it was D'jok's number.

"Rocket! I've been trying to reach dad but he's not answering, is he ok?" D'jok uttered quickly in panic, that Rocket didn't understand what he was saying at first. Rocket turned to Sonny who had heard what D'jok had said and was also looking a bit confused as he looked at his holo-watch; which turned out to be smashed.

"He's all right D'jok, is watch just got smashed that's all." He replied. He heard a deep sigh of great relief coming from D'jok's side of the phone and muttering stuff like thank god.

"Listen I phoned in two say that group four had fallen back to defensive point b2 and group three's been able to send a distress signal, so we should have reinforcements in about fifteen minutes." Everyone that heard D'joks news sighed in relief, except Rocket and Sonny, who gave some kind of serious look at each other. From their experience in situations like this, they knew that something could always happen in fifteen minutes.

Tia sat in the dark holding the panic button tightly in her hand. It was the only comfort she had against the darkness and the loud noises of shouting, screaming and a few explosions that were happening over head. She had no idea what was going on and who was winning but she guessed she would just have to wait for someone to come and get her; if she wanted to find out. Sighing to herself, she tried to make herself comfort by stretching her aching muscles. She had tried walking around earlier but because she couldn't see she kept walking into the walls. She hoped everyone was all right. Suddenly, Tia could hear the sounds of footsteps beating against the floor. She was sure they stopped right in front of her door and was proven right when the door whooshed open and light enter the room.

"Rocket was clever to hide you down here." The voice remarked sarcastically, chills went down her spine when she heard that voice but she forced herself to remain calm.

"What are you doing down here?" She demanded her finger ready to press the button if necessary. An annoyed expression passed over his face at her comment.

"I have orders to take you somewhere safer." He commented but Tia wasn't buying it for a second.

"Well, my orders were to stay here unless Rocket came and got me, so I'm staying." She huffed, crossing her arms in defiance but still held her thumb carefully over the button. An angry expression crossed over the dark figures face, making Tia push her back into the corner even more.

"There's people dying up there and all you could think about is your precious Rocket." He snapped at her. For a moment Tia almost felt like jumping up and going with him but she kept her ground. She trusted Rocket and at the moment what he said goes.

"Do you have that bitch yet?" A voice shrieked through the other end of the man's walkie talkie. Tia's whole body went ridged with fear. She knew that voice and it wasn't someone she was keen on seeing soon. The man that stood at the door way lunged for her as she pressed the panic button.

"Where the hell is our back up?" Micro-Ice shouted over the top of the blazing gun fire. He wasn't the only one that was thinking that. The reinforcements should have arrived ten minutes ago but so far no one had shown up. The enemy was now using more explosive methods against them, making them retreat at least five times. Sonny was doing their best to keep them together but if reinforcements didn't come soon they were going to lose. Rocket ripped the ring out of his grenade and through it at them; he thought it was about time they got some of their own medicine.

"I thought you said you only used those in emergencies." D'jok asked, as he bent down more to guard himself from the rumble that was flying over all of their heads.

"I don't think you've realise this D'jok but this is kind of an emergency!" Rocket retorted back to him. Ripping out another ring and throwing it in the other direction. Everything went quiet for a moment but then the shooting started again but this time Rocket noticed one of the hallways had collapse, blocking anyone from getting through. Well, at least they weren't being shot from both sides now, he thought to himself. Because of the heavy fire they had all been receiving they had to all retreat to their last barrier point for their last stand. Thankfully there wasn't so much pressure now that they were only being shot in one direction. Just then Sonny's holo-watch rang.

"Where the hell are you?" Sonny shouted down the other end of the phone, Rocket knew it wasn't very commander like but in situations like this you're bound to get a little angry. Plus when you knew Sonny was angry, you knew you were in a bad situation.

"Sorry but as soon as we got your distress signal we were attacked, we only just beaten them off, we're sending your reinforcements now." The other man answered nervously, Rocket would of been nervous too because everyone knew if you got Sonny Blackbones mad or in a bad mood; you will be sorry. "They bloody better get here fast then." Sonny yelled back before cutting of the connection. Just then Rocket's own phone started beeping but it wasn't his ringtone, looking at his holo-watch he saw the red light beeping; signalling someone in distress. No, no, no, Rocket panicked to himself before he quickly pulled himself together.

"Sonny! Tia's in trouble!" He yelled over to Sonny before he made a death defying run, dodging bullets and finally making a run down the stairs. Sonny tried calling after him but when Rocket made no sign of listening, he yelled Corso to take over and signal to D'jok and Micro-Ice to come with him.

Tia had to give Sinedd some credit; he was fast. She had just barely pressed the button when she suddenly found herself, blinded, gagged and tossed over Sinedd's shoulder. She tried to slow him down by hitting him or kicking him but it wasn't really helping since her hands and feet were tied, so it didn't have much effect. She felt herself stop when a noise sounded behind them. She heard Sinedd mutter some curse before dumping her somewhere. Tia honestly didn't know what to do. She couldn't shout out or stand up, hell she couldn't even see. Out of desperation she began randomly kicking anything in front of her, finding some boxes in front her to make some noise. Pure happiness lit on her face when someone removed the blind fold off her and found D'jok in her line of vision.

"Micro-Ice, I got her!" He called out, grabbing a knife hidden in his boot and began undoing her binds. Just then Sinedd appeared behind D'jok and lunged with his dagger. Tia screamed.

The first place that Rocket ran to checked was the cell room that he left her in, to find the door wide open and no Tia. Damn it! He swore to himself, punching the wall next to him; hurting his hand in the process. Thankfully, this helped Rocket to calm down and think. Ok, it took me two minutes to get here, so she can't have gone that far. Rocket retraced his steps back up the stairs to where he bumped into Sonny and the others.

"Rocket report." Sonny demanded. Rocket would usually find it quite funny when Sonny acted all 'commandie' because in real life he was a lay back guy but right now wasn't the time to laugh.

"Tia's missing; the only place she could have disappeared is the loading docks, since we didn't bump into anyone on our way here." He answered. Everyone nodded and began running full speed towards the loading docks. They only stopped when two corridors appeared. Rocket knew she was in one of the loading areas but which one.

"D'jok, Micro-Ice take the left, Rocket, we'll take the right." Sonny ordered. No one argued as the teams split up and ran down the corridors, it didn't take long for Rocket and Sonny to reach the first loading dock. They split up, one taking the left and the other taking the right. Once they both signalled to each other that both their sides were clear, they both made their way to the door that allowed them to enter the other dock. Both of them stood on each side of the door. Sonny nodded to Rocket, letting Rocket know to kick the door down. As soon as he kicked the door open, he saw Sinedd about to stab D'jok. Rocket was just about to scream out a warning when something kicked D'jok out of the way, making Sinedd stumble forward and hit something else with his knife instead. Rocket swore he heard some kind of muffled scream but before he had a chance to process this thought through his head he watched D'jok ruby tackle Sinedd to the ground and began wrestling with him. While Sonny went off to help his son, Rocket moved towards where he had the scream come from. His eyes widen when he looked around the crates of boxes and saw Tia lying on the ground, tied gagged and bleeding, from the side of the stomach; with Sinedds knife was sticking out.


	9. Akillian

Chapter 9: Akillian

Rocket watched, as more and more men came past, carrying the wounded or the dead. He had known most of these people well, hell they had become kind of like a family, all of them saw each other as brothers or sisters; except Sinedd. So when one died, it was total heart break but when something like this happened; well there were really no words to describe the grief. No one spoke a word, unless someone needed to pass on orders. Rocket and the others were giving orders to rest but he would have preferred to go and help in some way. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he hadn't notice the presence of someone else, until they placed their soft hands on his own.

"How's your leg?" Tia asked, making Rocket turn to look at her. She was the only thing that made him feel ok at the moment. The reminder of his leg made Rocket wince in pain slightly. He had been so busying worrying over Tia earlier and cutting off the ropes that bound her that he failed to notice some of Bleylock's men had somehow, sneaked down to the loading docks. Rocket didn't think they were expecting to see them down there because they began shooting wildly ending up with Sonny being shot in the arm and Rocket being shot in the leg. The causalities could have been a lot worse if Tia didn't push Sonny out of the way just in the nick of time. In the end the enemy had been cut down and the reinforcements had finally arrived, forcing Bleylock's men to surrender.

"I'm all right." Rocket finally replied, realising he had been day-dreaming too long about his stupid thinking and her brave actions. "What about you?" Rocket questioned but instantaneously regretting it, since the knife sticking out of her stomach sent nightmares through his body. Tia however, just seemed to shrug it off like it was nothing important.

"It's all right, just needed some stitches." She smiled but then her expression turned sour when another dead body was carried by. "Why did so many have to die?" She whispered, as a tear slowly rolled down her cheek. Rocket knew she was blaming herself for what happened, as soon as Dame Simbai had stitched her up she had been helping Dame Simbai bandaged up the wounded and give them pain killers. He wanted to help but he knew there was nothing he could say or do, that would have any affected on her when her guilt was at its highest point. Instead he just wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. Tia was grateful for the small comfort and cuddled into Rocket, as they watched the dead go by.

"We're here!" Sonny announced, as he tried to steady himself with one arm while the ship landed. Tia shook herself awake because she felt like she was going to fall asleep any second. The bumpy landing helped her to stay awake. Rocket stood up but seemed to forget that he was wounded, making him nearly fall down again; if Tia hadn't caught him in time.

"You should try and take it slow." Tia suggested, shifting some of Rocket's weight onto her. Rocket was about to protest but Tia made some kind of look that made Rocket shut his mouth instantly and allowed Tia to help him limp out of the space craft and into the open fresh air. Tia's mouth fell wide open. She had never seen such a beautiful place before. The sky was a clear royal blue, the building's stood tall and grand and there various bits of brightly coloured vegetation and animals around the place. This was much better then Tia had thought. "Rocket, this place is..." Tia couldn't continue what she was saying because she just couldn't; there were no words to describe what she was thinking.

"Told you so." Rocket whispered into her ear and she couldn't help but smile. But what do I do now? Tia considered to herself, as she followed Sonny and the others to a building close by. She had no family, no money and no applications for jobs to help me move on. While Tia was going through all of these thoughts in her head, she was being carefully watched by Rocket and Sonny. They were also wondering the same thing. They had been both wondering how they were going to help Tia move on with her life, Sonny and Rocket both knew she was going to need all the help she could get. Besides, she had saved both their lives and had become very close to both of them. There was no way they were going to just leave her. When everyone entered the building, Tia helped Rocket sit down in one of the nearby chairs. Tia wipe away the sweat that had broke out on her forehead, she hadn't notice how heavy Rocket was until now. Tia guessed she should of notice since she was a small five foot seven and Rocket was over six foot. The peace disappeared when a whole roll of guards came through the doors and stood just a few steps away from Tia.

"Mrs Point?" One of the men demanded, making Tia feel a little scared.

"Yes." She replied, trying to keep the fear she was feeling from entering her voice but sadly wasn't doing a good job. How was she not meant to be scared? At least twenty men and robots came in with guns loaded and ready and pointed at her , she tried to count how many there really were but her brain was just not working at the moment. The man that had asked her name signalled two men, who began to approach Tia but stop instantly when Rocket and Sonny suddenly appeared by her side.

"What's the meaning of this?" Sonny demanded to the man in charge. The man was about to argue back when everyone that was a part of Sonny's crew started to place themselves around Tia like a protective barrier.

"The leaders of the council wish to see her." The man answered after regaining some of his authority. Tia felt Sonny stiffen beside her, whoever these council members were they didn't sound like people you should disobey an order too. Out of panic Tia instantly reached for Rockets hand and gripped it tightly. She felt more confident when Rocket squeezed her hand a little bit to comfort her and made no sign of letting of.

"Fine but I'm going with her." Sonny stated firmly, the man was about to argue back but Sonny made some kind of face that made the other guy back off immediately. Tia felt herself relax a little bit. The man seemed to debate with himself for a few moments before nodding his head. Tia looked quickly at Rocket for a moment, who seemed scared to let her go off with those people. Tia couldn't help but also feel a bit nervous but Sonny showed her a confident smile which calmed her a little. Giving Rocket a quick smile she and Sonny followed the guards through the other doors. Lost from everyone else's sight.

Rocket sat in his temporary room wondering what to do. If there was one thing he hated then it was worrying. Messaging his temples, he began typing in his parent's number. It was about time he told them he was home. But when he tried, the phone went straight to voice mail; sighing to himself he left a message and said he'll be home around dinner time. Code message for I'll be around to eat all of your food. He then tried to call his uncle Aarch who also didn't answer. Out of frustration he chucked himself on the bed, he closed his eyes to try and get a quick power nap but as soon as he closed them a picture of Tia slipped into his mind. Why can't I get her out of my head? Rocket argued with himself. What was it about Tia that made him lose his temper when someone insulted her? Why did he go crazy every time she smiled at him? Why did he like the touch of her skin against his own? These questions were beginning to shout louder and louder inside his head as the days went past. It wasn't that he didn't like thinking about her, it's just... He didn't know why he was reacting like this to her and to no one else. Shaking the silly thoughts from his head, he decided to go and see D'jok. Micro-Ice was still out cold, since Sinedd had attacked him from behind; knocking him out, so he couldn't see him. Forcing himself to walk on his bad leg, Rocket made his way to the integration room.

"Anything?" Rocket asked, as he walked into the room. D'jok looked away from the screen he had been watching and shook his head. Rocket only nodded in understanding and limped his way to stand near his red headed friend. As he looked through the screen he saw Sinedd staring back at him. Two other men were in the room questioning him but he paid no attention to them.

"I can't believe we've been so blinded for all of these years." D'jok stated, breaking Rocket from his staring match with Sinedd. Rocket agreed with him completely. He had known Sinedd as long as he had known D'jok and Micro-Ice. Rocket had never hated Sinedd until now, sure as kids they had a sort of rivalry between each other but they were kids. It wasn't until they were in their teens that they had seen what a sick bastard he really was. He was the only child of a wealthy family, who got kicked out when his father found out he had been spending all of his money on prostitutes and gambling. That's why he joined the army in the first place; for money. While him and D'jok had joined to fight for their home and freedom. If Rocket had the chance he would have snapped his neck in the loading dock but thinking of Tia's safety had managed to snap him out of his clouded red vision. There I go again, Rocket sighed to himself, as he just realised he was thinking about Tia again. He hoped she was ok.

Tia followed the guards nervously, even with Sonny walking right beside her. She felt like she was heading towards her boyfriend's house and was about to meet his parents for the first time. Reminding herself to breath, she stayed as close as she could to Sonny. She wished that Rocket was with her, since his presence seemed to calm her but sadly, she had to deal without him. Feeling Sonny suddenly go tense beside her, Tia began to worry.

"Where are we going? The conference room's that way" Sonny demanded. From the corner of her eye she saw Sonny reach down near one of his pockets where she near he kept a dagger hidden.

"The Emperor and The Head of the Flux Society wish to see her in private." The man that was leading them to their destination shouted back, as they came to a door at the end of the doorway. The man knocked on the door and waited until someone replied. The man opened the door and ushered them both in, before closing the door behind them.

"Well Sonny it's good to see you." An old fat man with a white beard and a robotic eye greeted them, only you can tell by the way he said it that he was lying. Another person stood in the corner of the room with a hood covering his face. The hooded figure nodded to Sonny and Sonny nodded back. Even though the figure was hooded, Tia sensed she could trust him because she could sense the respect between Sonny and the tall figure. The fat guy on the other hand she distrusted straight away. "This is the girl that holds the breath." The old man gestured, examining her sharply. Tia was relieved when Sonny stood in the way of his line of vision, making Tia feel less anxious.

"This is Tia." Sonny stated firmly at the old man, like he was trying to confirm that she was a human not a machine. Tia's suspicions were proven corrected by what the man said next.

"Well, she'll have to change it when she begins her combat training." He stated. Combat training? Chills went down Tia's spine at the very thought. Gratefully, Sonny came straight to her defence.

"She's not a weapon; with everything she's been through she deserves to be left alone." Sonny yelled back at him, putting a protective arm around her, just like a father would.

"From the reports we've received, we know she's already killed over twenty people with what she can do. It's either join the army or be executed for murder." The fat bloke snapped back. Tia's whole body went ridged. She didn't like the idea of being killed but she would rather take the death penalty then kill more people. Sonny was just about to argue back but was silence by the hooded figure in the corner.

"I'll be the judge of that." The person stated softy, as he walked closer to her. The first time Tia notice that this person wasn't human was when she saw his two long pale fingers and thumb reach up to his hood and pulled it back, revealing a white smooth face with glowing eyes.

"May I." He asked, sticking out his hands just below her face so she could rest her head on. Tia turned to Sonny for guidance. He gave her a quick nod to go on. Swallowing the lump that was blocking up her throat, she gently placed her head on his hands and looked straight into his eyes. There was a moment of complete stillness, while the tall pale man examined Tia. She was surprised to find herself still breathing. "So much pain and so much loneliness for one so young, yet still so much strength and kindness still reminds inside your heart." He whispered before releasing Tia from her trance. She quickly shook away the dizziness that blinded her vision and gripped onto Sonny's arm for balance. "I can conclude that this young woman is no murderer but in fact a victim that needs the alliances protection." The man assured both Tia and Sonny Blackbones. The other guy seemed displease with this answer and tried to defend his point but was interrupted by the tall figure. "Just because we are in a war Emperor, it doesn't mean that we break laws to fulfil our needs. Plus I believe Sonny Blackbones has evidence to back up my claims." He nodded towards Sonny.

"I do." Sonny replied with a small smile on his face. He shot a quick glare at the Emperor guy before he returned to his contain self again.

"Very well," The leader of the flux society answered, pulling his hood back up to cover his face. "Then I know whose protective hands I'll put her in."


	10. Family and Phone Calls

**I would just like to make a quick message to these people who I could not send an e-mail to. Samantha, Jemmah and . I would love to write a story about mei and d'jok but I've got too much stuff on, so if I have time I'll try and do a one-shot and maybe in the future I'll make a story about them. Piechara and Yuna, I know my writing on Sinedd is not the best but I don't find it easy to write about him, he's too much of an confusing character but I swear I'll make it better in the future promise. :) Now on with the story. **

Chapter 10: Family and Phone calls.

D'jok, Tia (Micro-Ices girlfriend) Yuki and Mana Ice, sat around a sleepy Micro-Ice in silence. Tia didn't feel comfortable sitting with everyone. She felt like she was intruding on some private matter but Sonny had instructed D'jok to not let her out of his sight while he went to make some phone calls (he muttered something about the Emperor giving up to easily) to some people. She knew D'jok had wanted to desperately go and see Micro-Ice as soon as he was free of his job, so Tia had suggested they go and visit him, while they still had some time. They had been sitting in Micro-ice's room for five minutes when his mum and girlfriend had entered the room. They had both been nice to her but still she couldn't help thinking this. I wonder what Rocket's doing right now, Tia consider to herself, moving into another comfortable position in the chair. From what Tia could remember Rocket said after every mission he came back from he would go to his parent's house. Mostly, around tea time because he would try to catch up on paperwork or have a rest. Looking down at the new watched that she had been giving; Tia saw that it was five o'clock. He would defiantly be having dinner with his family now, she sighed to herself. A knock at the door caught her attention. Turning around Tia saw Sonny waiting by the door. Quietly, she learnt over her chair and tapped D'jok gently on the shoulder and signalled him to his father. When D'jok realised who it was, he stood up, muttering a goodbye to everyone and then gestured to Tia to follow him out of the room. Tia followed them to what looked like some kind of car park. She had to suppress every laughing fibre in her being when Sonny and D'jok got in a fight about driving Sonny's brand new SUV. In the end Sonny won because he quoted that even if he had been shot in the arm, no one was allowed to drive his car. D'jok acted like a gentlemen and let Tia sit in the front seat or maybe he just didn't want to be the one flying out the window when Sonny crashed the car. Whatever his reason, he instantly fell asleep in the back seat.

"So Tia, what do you plan on doing now that you're on Akillian?" Sonny questioned, as he stopped at a set of traffic lights. Tia had come up with an idea but quickly dismissed it when she saw how hopeless the dream was.

"I did have an idea but it was silly, so to be honest I have nothing." Tia answered, leaning her head against the black leather seat behind her.

"What was your idea?" He asked, as the light went green, putting the car into gear and heading forwards at full speed. Tia twisted her long white blond hair between her fingers, nervously before replying.

"I... I wanted to go back to school." Tia replied, chewing her bottom lip anxiously, as she waited for Sonny's answer.

"I don't see what's so silly about that." Sonny's mused. Tia relaxed a little when Sonny agreed with her plan. She knew she was acting silly but with her biological father had been very critical with every move she made. She was always trying to impress her father and with Sonny being a father figure in her life at the moment; the habit was rearing its ugly head again. The only time she could remember her father being proud of her was when she had married Jonathan; that hadn't turned out good. "What made you think it was a silly idea?" Sonny spoke randomly, making Tia snap out of her thoughts.

"Well, I can't go to college without any applications and when I get my new identity I won't have any of those." She explained. The Flux society leader had gone through all of the details when they met in his office, so they could speak privately. He stated that they would give her a new identity and a bit of money to help her start off, although finding a job would be a problem because they wouldn't be able to give her any applications to set her up with. He had also explained that she would need to go in for a training session every week to learn how to control her flux. As Tia started to drift out of her thoughts, she noticed that Sonny had gone quiet; when she turned to look at him she saw he had hid thinking face on. Whatever he was thinking it was probably something important that she shouldn't disturb. The remained of the journey was spent in silence until they came across a roll of neat looking houses.

"You might want to cover your ears." Sonny suggested. Tia shot him a confused look but did what she was told. She wondered what Sonny was going to do when he suddenly slammed his fist on the wheel and beeped the horn. It all became clear when the car shook and D'jok leapt up from the back seat of the car. "You're home." Sonny sang innocently back at D'jok. Wiping the sleepiness from his eye's D'jok grumbled something that sounded like random curses as he stumbled out of the car. Tia couldn't help but giggle at D'joks antics, as she waved goodbye through the window. Sonny's house wasn't far from D'joks as they parked a couple of streets over. Sonny helped Tia out of the passage seat and guided her towards the house. It was a small cosy looking house, with a little garden and a tiny pond hidden in the corner. Breathing in the fresh Akillian air, Tia couldn't help but look to the future.

Rocket parked his car behind his parents green houses. He swore to himself when he jumped out of his car and landed on his bad leg. Muttering curses under his breath, Rocket limped to the front door of his parent's house and pressed the doorbell. The door swung open to reveal a teenage boy with baby blue eyes and pale red hair. His mouth fell open in shock; revealing braces.

"Hey Jamie, long time no see." Rocket smiled at his fourteen year old cousin who stood frozen in the door way. A few moments, after standing shocked in the hallway he ran in shouting his head off.

"Mum, Dad, Uncle Norata, Auntie Kira, Rocket's home!" Rocket laughed at Jamie's rant as he followed him into the families living room, where he was suddenly attacked by two eight year olds; all three of them falling on to the floor. They all started laughing their heads off, as Rocket mess both their hair up.

"Rocket! We spent ages doing are hair before we came here." The twins argued, as they push Rockets hands away. But despite their annoyance, Rocket could tell his cousins were happy to see him. When his other cousins got off him he was then bombarded with kisses and hugs from his mother. After half an hour of his mother's love and affection he was able to greet the rest of his family and was then pulled in to the kitchen to help cut up the vegetables. He tried to act as normal as he could but he couldn't. Rocket's mind kept drifting back on to Tia and Sinedd. Chills went up his spine as he thought back to the interrogation.

_Rocket and D'jok had been watching Sinedd for over an hour. Sinedd had said nothing to the two interrogators, he just kept smiling; that was what freaked Rocket out the most. Rocket couldn't shake the feeling that Sinedd knew something very important but at the moment he was just playing with those two men. He wished he could just go in there and beat the crap out of him but he kept reminding himself he couldn't do that without himself getting himself into trouble. However, the atmosphere changed completely when the interrogators mentioned Tia._

"_Why did you try to kidnap the girl?" One of the officers demanded. This was probably the first time they had mentioned today's events, so far they had been asking Sinedd if he had been working for Bleylock. At the mention of Sinedd's actions, his dirty little grin grew even bigger and an evil glint sparkled in his violet eye. _

"_You mean the weapon." He smirked, staring right at Rocket. Rocket would of probably gone right in there and beat him a couple of times for refereeing to Tia as a weapon, if D'jok hadn't placed an hand on his shoulder to remind him of reality._

"_What's the weapon?" The other interrogator questioned but for the next few hours, that was the only thing Sinedd said. For the rest of it he sat there and smiled._

It was clear that Sinedd knew something about Tia that they didn't. Could it possibly be connected to Tia being the only person in the galaxy having the Breath? Yes he was sure of it. What other reason could there be? He shook his head, as he tried to concentrate on the task he was working on. But it didn't take long for Tia to slip back into his thoughts again.

"Ouch!" Rocket cried out when he accidently cut his finger with the knife he had been using to cut the tomato up with. He had been so distracted thinking of Tia that he hadn't been paying attention to what he was doing.

"Are you all right Rocket?" His mother asked, as she learnt towards her only son and inspected the injury. Rocket didn't even bother arguing with her because she was just as stubborn as he was. Heck, everyone in this family had stubbornness burn into their genetics'. Just as his mother finished inspecting his wound, his phone began to ring. Usually he would ignore it when he was with his family but when he saw it was Sonny's number; he couldn't resist answering it and finding out about Tia.

"Talk to me Sonny." He spoke, picking up the knife again, so he could finish preparing dinner for tonight. He saw his dad give him a dirty look when he heard Sonny's name. His dad could never forgive Sonny for letting Rocket join the army, when in fact it was Rocket's decision and Sonny had done his best to scare Rocket, D'jok and Micro-Ice off from joining. His dad was one for holding a grudge.

"Uuuummm... Hey, it's Tia." When Rocket heard her sweet voice over the other end of the phone, he nearly dropped his knife again, almost chopping off his finger. Rocket couldn't have been more grateful for the lessons on keeping yourself calm in surprising situations.

"Oh, hey Tia." Rocket replied back, finally over his shock. He could feel his heart beating more rapidly for some reason; maybe it was because he nearly cut his finger off.

"Hey... again, I hope I'm not interrupting." Her voice echoed nervously from the phone other side of the phone.

"No, not at all." Rocket answered, placing the stuff to one side, as he mouthed some random excuse to his mother and walked quickly out of the kitchen and out to the family terrace, where he could clear his head and pull his thoughts together. "So, how did it go?" He asked, finally thinking of something to say as he tried to get the conversation going so he could hear her voice again. There was a silent pause, as he waited patiently for her answer.

"It was ok. I have to go and see the leader of the flux society once a week, so I can learn how I can control my flux and I'm going to the protection program tomorrow to get my new identity." She explained. Rocket was nodding to what she was saying, before realising she couldn't see him.

"So how do you feel about getting a new identity?" He questioned, leaning against the wall behind him.

"Honestly a little scared." She answered; Rocket could tell she was a bit frightened by the whole process because he could hear the hesitation in her voice.

"Don't worry, Sonny's been through the whole process before, so he'll look out for you. " Rocket tried to comfort her. He knew she was in capable hands because he knew a few people that worked out the protection agency and they would try to be nice and helpful as they could for her, plus he knew Sonny would do all he could to help her. There were a few moments of silence, making Rocket think he had lost connection or something before she spoke again.

"I hate to ask this but... is it possible that you could come with me as well, I know it's a lot to ask but..." She hesitated to finish off the sentence, as she struggled to find the words to express how she felt.

"I'll meet you there." He finished for her. To be honest he was kind of thankful that she had asked him because he wanted to be there for her. He could a deep sigh of relief on the other end of the phone. The rest of the conversation they talked about normal thing's like music and what they were having for dinner. They went on like that for ages, until his mother called for him, saying that it was dinner time. He regrettably said goodbye and went to meet his family. Dinner started off fine but Rocket couldn't shake the feeling that they were keeping something from him. He tried to shake it off but the feeling refused to go away. After what seemed like an eternity of silence (but was actually a couple of minutes) Rocket was about to ask what was up when his young cousin decided to ask him a question.

"Was that your girlfriend you were talking to on the phone Rocket?" Jamie asked out loud, making Rocket turn at least fifty shades of red. 


	11. New Identity

Chapter 11: New identity

Rocket woke up with the most annoying headache. He would of gone back to sleep if he hadn't remember he was suppose to be meeting Tia in an hour. Sighing to himself he quickly pushed himself out of bed. His family had been a total nightmare last night, as soon as Jamie asked if Tia was his girlfriend he was bombarded with a million questions about her. If he thought that was bad enough, his father brought up the whole 'leave the army' subject. He knew his father was only trying to protect him but why didn't he get the point. Over and over again, Rocket had to explain to his father how important it was to him to be in the army. To be honest he was surprised to get out of the house alive. Pushing the thoughts out of his head, Rocket got himself ready and grabbed a cup of coffee, before he climbed into his car and drove to meet Tia at the agency.

Tia was very nervous. She didn't know why but she was. It was meant to be a happy moment; she was starting a new life, away from the pain and suffering she had dealt with for the last couple of years. Maybe it was where the new life was going to take her that was making her nervous. Honestly, she had no idea what she was going to do. Tia wished she had thought this through better. She thought she was doing a good job of hiding her nerves until Sonny brought up the subject.

"Why are you so nervous kiddo?" He joked, as he parked the car in front of the agency's head quarters. Curse Sonny for being too observant, Tia swore silently to herself. Tia could only shrug at his question since she really didn't know the answer to that question. Sonny seemed to understand and helped her out of the car. The protection agency was a tall building, though not as big as the army headquarters she had been the day before. She stayed close to Sonny, given that she didn't really know what else to do. Panic rose up inside her when they approached the building because she found out earlier this morning that for part of the process Sonny wasn't going to be with her but instantly calm down when she saw who was waiting outside the building. Tia couldn't help but admire how his t-shirt showed off his firm muscles. He didn't see them approaching at first until he turned his face in Tia and Sonny's direction and waved in their direction. Tia smiled and gave a small wave back; she didn't understand why butterflies were swirling around in her stomach. She tried suppressing the feeling flying in her stomach but the velocity increased, as they got closer.

"Hey Rocket." Tia smiled, when she was only a step away for him.

"Hey guys." Rocket nodded back to both of them with a big smile when Rocket looked at her. Tia used all her might to stop her cheeks from blushing. They all stood outside for a few minutes talking to each other about random topics, before Sonny ushered Tia into the building with Rocket, following close behind. The building was buzzing with people running around and talking with co-workers and friends. Moving around the crowds of people and approached the desk that lay on the other side of the room.

"We have an appointment for ten o'clock." Sonny spoke to the young assistant, who had a white shirt that was showing off her black bra and a short black shirt that showed off nicely shaped legs. The girl looked up from the magazine that she had been reading. Her eyes slowly drifted to where Rocket was leaning next to the counter, a sly smile spread across her face. "Our appointment." Sonny firm voice broke the girl's attention from Rocket. She muttered her apologises and began searching the computer screen, her eyes drifting to Rocket now and again. Tia was thinking about slapping her around the face when a female voice called out behind them.

"Thanks Shelia, I'll take it from her." Tia turned to see a tall young woman with brunette hair pulled up in a pony tail, stunning blue eyes and an amazing figure. It wasn't just the way she looked that made her stand out but the way she held herself as well, like she was the queen and this was her domain. "Hey Sonny." The mysterious woman waved. Sonny embraced the young woman in a hug.

"Hey Mei, how's D'jok and little Rosie?" He asked, after they let each other go.

"Well, the nanny was looking after Rosie and D'jok was still in bed when I left." The young woman answered as she and Sonny both laughed. Tia felt Rocket step a bit closer, as he also watched the happy exchanged between Mei and Sonny. She had been having a difficult time trying to remember where she had heard Mei's name from, until Sonny mentioned D'jok and little Rosie. Glimpses of her and D'jok's conversations began to replay in her head, as she remember that Mei was D'jok fiancé and little Rosie was their child. "So Tia, are you ready?" Mei questioned, breaking Tia from her thoughts and back into reality.

"Uuummm, yeah, I guess." She replied nervously. Mei gave her a gentle smile and led her off to one of the doors. Tia turned to give a quick wave to the two men still standing near the desk before she disappeared through the doors.

After an hour of Tia disappearing through the doors, a man came up to Sonny and handed him an envelope. Before Rocket could ask what it was, Sonny grabbed Rocket by the arm and pulled him out of the building. Rocket knew better then to argue with Sonny or ask what was going on, he knew Sonny would tell him when they were some place private. Once they were in the clear from any audiences, Sonny turned to Rocket with a very serious expression on his face.

"I want you to be honest Rocket, what are your feelings towards Tia?" Sonny asked. It took a few moments for Rocket to answer the question because he didn't understand what Sonny was asking him, until he processed it through his head.

"Pardon?" Rocket questioned, it didn't mean to sound rude but he didn't understand why Sonny had even considered asking him this question in the first place. Sonny just raised an eyebrow, meaning 'just answer the question'. Rocket took a few more moments to examine the question again before he let out a loud sigh. He knew there was no point lying to Sonny because Sonny had known him for too long and could read him like an open book. "To be honest, I don't know. I never felt anything like this about a person before. I think about her all the time, I become ten times happier every time she smiles at me and every time she's hurt and I can't do anything about it, I just want to beat my head against the wall." Rocket explained, letting out a big breath when he had finished talking about her; she always seemed to make him go breathless. A nervous feeling started to hover around Rocket's stomach when a sly grin appeared across Sonny's face.

"Rocket, isn't it obvious." Sonny tried to point out to him but Rocket was still totally clueless. He couldn't help but think he must have looked like a right idiot standing there with a dumb looking expression on his face. Shaking his head to suppress the laughter that was threatening to escape Sonny's throat he gave Rocket another second to see if he could figure it out before explaining. "You're in love." At that moment Rocket's face went from confessed to shock and maybe faint in a blink of an eye. For Rocket, it seemed the world had gone still, as he replayed every memory he ever had with Tia or someone mentioning her name.

"Oh shit." Rocket finally managed to utter out in disbelief. He could think of three battle plans in a minute when under intense pressure, he could survive the wilderness for a week with little food and water but he couldn't figure out that he was in love. How did this happen? Rocket thought to himself, as leaned against the wall to stop himself from passing out. How could he not realise it before? He had always thought Tia different when their eyes met and he realise that she had caught him stealing a security card but hadn't raised any alarms. He even had little daydreams of what her lips would feel like against his. Grumbling to himself, he continued to mentally slap himself for being an idiot.

"Now that we've establish that you're in love her, I think it's time I passed on a warning." Sonny voice automatically ordered Rocket to break from his thoughts and turn to face the older, who looked like he was in full commander mode. "You and I both know that Tia has been through a lot, right now she needs to put her life back together. So just be careful, otherwise I might have to hurt you." Sonny warned. Rocket shook his head; he perfectly understood what Sonny said. There was no way he could ever hurt Tia, he cared far too much for her and now he knew why. But he had a feeling that acting normal around Tia was going to be much harder.

Tia looked at the new her in the mirror. Her hair that used to flow past her bum in tangled curls was now shoulder length with layers, making her hair wavy. She had also gone a shade blonder with a few high lights and had a fringe. Mei had told her to wait hear while they got all her documents ready, giving Tia time to think. Confusion and disbelief were still rolling about in her mind. Even though Mei hadn't told anyone who see was and had only heard a few people whispered the title to Mei, she couldn't help but believe that was what Mei really was. A spymaster. Tia had doubted it at first because of how friendly and talkative she was. But now she was giving time to think about it, it all made sense. She hadn't taken notice of the small questions that Mei had slipped into the conversations and the way she seemed to know what people were saying when they were on the other side of the room. Honestly, it was scary stuff. She could feel another headache coming on and began massaging the temples in her head.

"So, what do you think of your new look?" Mei asked, suddenly appearing behind her and made Tia jumped out of her skin. That was another thing that made Tia think she was a spy; Mei was very good at sneaking up on people.

"Oh Mei you scared me, yes I love it." Tia smiled back. Except her wedding day (when she had her face and hair all done for the big day) she never thought she looked so pretty in her life. Still her looks were nothing compared to Mei's stunning appearance. Mei only laughed and handed her a brown envelope.

"Here's everything you need: Passport, bank statements and birth certificate." Mei exclaimed, as Tia opened the envelope. She opened the little red passport the fell onto her lap. Tia opened it to see a picture of herself with her new hair cut with a date of birth and nationality. She had to get use to her new name and nationality because her old ethnic group was Obia Moon but it was now Akillian. Her name hadn't changed that much. She still had her first name but her last name was now Johnson and she was no longer a Mrs but a Miss. Tia was about to ask if this meant she was officially single but was too scared to ask. When she looked at her birth certificate she was a little surprise to see that her mother's made up last name was Blackbones. Tia looked up and gave Mei a confuse look. "Yeah, Sonny is now your uncle, since we needed an excuse to explain why you were living with him." Mei explained with a little shrug. At that moment Rocket and Sonny walked into the room. Tia saw Rocket's mouth dropped for a second before snapping it shut again.

"You look amazing Tia." Rocket stated overcoming his shock. Sonny nodded in agreement, before passing Tia another envelope, this time it was a white one.

"Sonny, I thought I told you not to go through with your plan, since its illegal." Mei stated, her arms crossed and an angry expression appeared on her face.

"Oh come on Mei, I'll only get in trouble if you tell on me." Sonny replied, showing Mei an innocent smile. Tia could only look back and forth between the two people before nervously opening –since she didn't know what illegal stuff Sonny was giving her- the envelope and looked at the piece of paper on the inside. Carefully looking over the piece of document, she saw her new name again and underneath school subject grades and effort grades, with an attendance score. Looking closer she recognised that the piece of paper showed her old final examination grades that she was going to use to go to university. Her eyebrows disappeared up her hair line when she read the information again.

"Sonny, How?...When?..." Tia was in too much shock to finish what she was saying. Sonny could only laugh at her shock expression.

"I know how much you wanted to go back to school, so I called in a few favours and managed to dig up your old school grades." Sonny smiled. Tears were beginning to form in Tia's eyes, as the sacrifices of what everyone had done for her kicked in. She was instantly surrounded by Mei, Sonny and Rocket, as they tried to comfort her. She brushed away the tears and smiled at everyone.

"I don't know how to thank you guys." She managed to blubber out between sobs.


	12. Old Friends

Chapter 12: Old Friends

"Hey honey, we're home." Sonny Blackbones called out when he and Tia had entered the house. Tia still felt totally embarrassed about getting all emotional back at the agency. They had tried to tell her it was natural but it didn't stop her for being mad at herself for being such a cry baby. However, the smell of fresh brownies coming from the kitchen cheered her up a bit. A woman with light ginger hair, and green eyes popped her head out of the room and smiled.

"Hello you two, I've just finished cooking some of my famous Chocó chip brownies, would you like some?" She asked. Both Tia and Sonny instantly said yes and followed Sonny's wife into the bright yellow kitchen and sat around the counter. Mary had been so nice and understanding ever since Tia had arrived, she had the spare bedroom all made up for Tia and tried to make her feel part of the family. "Tia, me and Mei are going shopping today, would you like to come with us." She questioned, dishing up freshly cook brownies onto two plates and placed them into front of Tia and her husband.

"I would love to Mary." Tia smiled back at her new aunt. Gently blowing on the brownie and placed it in her mouth. The chocolate melted on her mouth. She wondered if it was possible to marry one of Mary's brownies, if it made her feel like this. Looking over to Sonny, she could see Sonny thinking the same thing but knew he could never marry it since he was married to the almighty brownie maker. She couldn't stop giggle to herself when she saw a weird expression pass over Sonny's face. Sonny heard Tia's giggle and turned to look at her with a questionable look. Using hand signals to indicate Sonny falling in love with the brownie. He nearly choked on his brownie, as he began laughing at Tia suggestion. The doorbell sounded and Mary went to answer it. Tia and Sonny continue to finish off their brownies when voices erupted from the hall. She recognised one of the voices as Mei's and she could hear a baby's voice. Even though she could only hear Mei, Mary and little sounds from Rosie (she guessed, since she didn't really think that Mei would bring a strangers baby with her) she couldn't help but feel that there was another person there from some of the things the woman where saying. Her suspicions were proven right from what she heard next.

"How was Rosie today Stella?" Mary asked, making Tia stop eating and sharpen her ears to try and hear what was being said in the hallway but then relaxed when she told herself she was over reacting and was about to eat the last piece of brownie until...

"She's been very good today; she ate all her fruit for breakfast this morning." The extra voice replied. Tia dropped her brownie in complete shock. I know that voice but it couldn't be; could it, Tia's mind froze as she processed this thought through her head. She must have been sitting there shocked for a long time because Sonny finally noticed.

"Tia, are you alright?" He questioned, pacing his hand on Tia's shoulder. Bringing Tia back to reality, she ran out of the kitchen and in to the hall. She could only stand and stare at the small women with shoulder length brown hair and small glasses on her face. Reality suddenly cut off as she stood there frozen to the spot. Even when Sonny started shaking her, after saying her name had failed. The women turned to stare at her when they heard Sonny repeat her name and ask what was wrong.

"Tia?" The small woman uttered out in surprise. Everyone turned to stare at the small woman and then back at Tia again. The stress and shock of seeing her old governess finally caught up to her, as she passed out.

Rocket tossed his keys on the table and pressed the button to hear the voicemails left on his telephone. There was one from his mum, asking if he was coming over for dinner any time soon. Another was from his Auntie Aduim, saying that Jamie had a football game coming up and Jamie was hoping he would come and see it. The last one was from one of the guys asking if he wanted to go to the pub and get a few drinks. He decided to phone his mum first, since she would never forgive him if he didn't. Picking up the phone and dialling in his parent's phone number. He was surprise to hear his cousin pick up the phone instead.

"Hey Rocket, how are you man?" Jamie yelled down the phone excitedly, nearly bursting Rockets ear drum.

"I'm good thanks Jamie; I hear you've got a football game coming up." Rocket exclaimed. For the next hour Rocket listened to Jamie go on about how excited he was about his upcoming football match and asked Rocket for some advice. Rocket tried to remember his young days playing in his uncle's football club along with his mates and from his experience tried to give his young cousin some advice. Just as the conversation was coming to an end Jamie asked,

"Are you going to bring your girlfriend?" Rocket took a deep breath and shook his head at his young cousin's accusations.

"She's not my girlfriend Jamie and I'll ask." He answered, listening to his cousin deny what Rocket just said. After his cousin had calmed down they both said good bye and hang up. He then dialled one of the guys number to see if they were still at the pub.

"Hey man! Haven't heard from you in a while." Thran cheerfully sang on the other side of the phone.

"Yeah just wanted to know if we were still up for drinks?" Rocket requested. After making plans with his mates, he grabbed his coat and locket his house up.

Tia had just had the weirdest dream. She had come home from the protection agency and was eating some of Mary's famous Chocó chip Brownies when she saw her old governess in the hallway. Rubbing her eyes open, she learnt up to stretch her ligaments but stopped when she saw the woman sitting on the end of the bed next to her. Oh! It wasn't a dream, Tia realised, after staring at the woman for a while.

"How are you feeling sweet heart? Any better?" Stella commented, observing Tia's every move carefully. Slowly, Tia put her arms back down. She honestly didn't how to react, she was completely in shock. "Tia, are you ok?" Stella reached over and held Tia's hand. It was then that the real world seemed to come crashing down on top of her head. Tears began to fall from her eyes, as she leaned forward to hug the only person that had acted like a mother to when she was little.

"Oh Stella, I'm so sorry I should of listen to you, I was such a idiot and the things I said to your face I didn't mean them, honest, I just was being an idiot I wish I could of taken them back. God I'm such an idiot. Please, please Stella, forgive me" I cried into her shoulder ,as I felt her making hushing noises in my ear and rubbed my back gently, like she used to do when I came home from another bulling session at school or when mum and dad had said something mean to me. We hadn't parted on good terms because when I told her Jonathan had asked me to marry him she was totally against it, saying I should build myself a future first and that she didn't have a good feeling about him. Tia on the other had disagreed completely and after an exchanged of hard words, Stella left and never came back. After Tia calmed down a bit, she learnt back to look at the mother figure that sat in front of her. Nothing had changed except for a few grey strands that she hadn't recognised before dangling in her hair. "Oh Stella can you ever forgive me." Tia begged, placing her disgraced head into her hands.

"Oh sweetie I forgave you years ago. Can you forgive me?" She pleaded. Tia's head zoomed up faster than you could say 'look its free chocolate'.

"Forgive you, for what?" Tia questioned confused. Stella began to explain that she had tried to get back in touch with Tia after their argument but was cut off whenever Jonathan answered the phone. When she got married, Stella thought she had simply forgot about her and tried to move with her life. Anger swelled up inside her when she heard about Jon's evil deeds.

"I swear Tia, if I knew what was really going on I would have come and got you." Stella told Tia firmly, wiping the tears away from Tia's pale cheeks. Tia nodded, not able to trust her numb tongue to say anything else. They talked for a bit more as they tried to catch up on each other's past, when Sonny knocked on the door and walked in.

"You two alright?" He asked, leaning against the door frame. Both Stella and Tia nodded their heads with big smiles on both their faces.

Rocket downed another beer with his mates. Micro-Ice had finally been let out of hospital and at the moment Thran , Ahito and D'jok were busy taunting Micro-Ice about being knocked out by Sinedd. He was happy he hadn't taken his car otherwise he would have been crashing into things on the way home. He felt a bit sorry for Micro-Ice and all the teasing he got from the guys; he was the one always getting tease.

"So doing anything special for Mei on Valentine's day?" Micro-Ice asked D'jok, trying to change the subject around.

"I was planning on getting a diamond bracelet she has been hinting at me for the past few weeks, then I was going to take her to The Red Lounge." All of the guys wolf whistled at D'joks plans. Everyone knew that The Red Lounge was one of the most expensive restaurants in the city and everyone who wanted to impress someone went there. "What about you guys?" He asked his mates. Micro-Ice said he was taking Yuji to another restaurant that Rocket had heard was quite nice and brought her tickets to see a rock band that she had been wanting to see for a long time. The twins had similar plans with girls they had meant when they had been away. "So, Rocket. Do you have any plans to take Tia out anywhere?" D'jok joked. Rocket could feel his cheeks warming up when Thran turned to look at him in shocked disbelief, even Ahito who was always asleep seemed to catch what was being said. They probably thought Rocket was gay because he had a lot of good looking girls come up to him and try to ask them out but Rocket always turned them down. To be honest he never really understood while other guys went crazy over girls, until Tia entered his life.

"Woah! Rocket got himself a girl, about time mate." Thran cheered, as Rocket sank lower and lower into the chair. He was going to kill D'jok, not only Jamie was going to be nagging him about Tia being his girlfriend but now the twins as well.

"Tia's just a friend." Rocket finally spoke after getting over his embarrassment. D'jok just shot him a look (something that would have said 'yeah right' if he could speak out loud) but didn't say anything else.

"Who is this Tia anyway?" Thran inquired, it seemed he believed more in what D'jok said then what Rocket has said.

"She's my cousin." D'jok stated, it seemed that Mei had already told him about Tia' new identity. Thran was about to say something but D'jok spoke first. "She's a long lost cousin." The expression that was left on Thran's and Ahito's face made Rocket that they didn't believe him.


	13. Crazy Lady and Cousins

Chapter 13: Crazy Lady and cousins

Little Rosie was the cutest baby that Tia had ever seen in her whole life time. She had her mother's looks with her father's pretty green eyes and red hair; Rosie was defiantly going to be a looker when she grew up. Tia watched, as D'jok fed Rosie another spoon of baby food making a kind of airplane noise; it was quite funny. Mei, sat close to her husband and also laughed at D'jok attempts to feed their daughter. Mary and Sonny had gone to collect the food at the counter, leaving Tia to sit by herself. Stella would have joined them but her husband's children needed her to look after their children. Tia was happy that Stella had found herself a man that loved her and a family that she adored, giving Tia more hope that she could start over. They had spent all morning trying to find new clothes for Tia, since she only had the ones that Mei could lend her and they were too long. They had done well so far, Tia had managed to buy three new jeans and a few t-shirts. Mary and Mei tried to encourage her to try on a dress or a skirt but Tia refused, she would feel like a complete idiot when she had been forced to wear a dress when she had to go to parties with Jonathan, then getting beaten up for looking ugly in it. She suppressed the shiver that was about to roll down her back. No, she couldn't think like that anymore, she was supposed to be moving on with her life. Tia had been nervous when she downloaded a few applications this morning for a few of the local collages but Stella and Sonny encouraged her to at least give it a try. Sighing to herself, she saw Sonny and Mary return with the food and moved along the chair to give Mary and Sonny a seat. They had come to a place called Planet Akillian. The place was packed, many people came here, Mei said you had to be lucky to find a seat in this place, which luckily they had. The whole family engaged in conversation, while Tia just watched and ate her burger. She couldn't help but feel jealous with the way Mei and D'jok looked at each other; their looks were filled with so much love. Why couldn't I find someone like that? Tia mumbled to herself, as she took another bite of her cheese burger. She knew that she wasn't actually girlfriend material but Stella had always said there was someone out there for everyone; yeah, everyone accepted her. She snapped out of her unhappy day dreams as baby Rosie made a cute little giggle at one of the funny faces that D'jok had just made. Tia couldn't help but giggled herself at D'jok foolishness. Her phone suddenly started buzzing; looking at her watch she saw she had a text from Rocket. A big smile spread across her lips and let out a little laugh. Poor Rocket, Tia sighed to herself and quickly sent a reply back. A few minutes later, after finishing their lunches they were walking back to the shopping district. Mei was making another attempt for her to try on a dress but Tia continued to refuse. Besides even if she did buy a dress when was she ever going to wear it, she had no idea but she was sure some time near in the future Mei was going to find a good excuse to force her to try it on. If she had been paying attention she would of notice the two little animals run past her ankle. However, she did notice two blond flashes run past her and before she could take in the situation completely something heavy collide with her and knocked Tia down.

Rocket groan when he heard the sound of his phone ringing, he tried ignoring it at first and hoped it was his imagination but finally picked up the phone when it didn't seem to stop.

"Hello." He grumbled into the phone, pulling the cover back over his head when the piercing light burn in his eyes. He was still trying to wear off the effects of the hangover he had got from too many drinks last night with the guys yesterday and hoped to sleep it off. However, Rocket suspected that his plans had been foiled.

"Hey Rocket, is it possible that you could pick up the girls from gymnastic today?" His uncle asked. Rocket let out a loud groan. His uncle knew he didn't like picking up the girls from their club. Not because he hated them or anything like that, in fact he loved to watch his young cousin show off the new tricks they had learnt. It was just, that woman... Shivers went down Rockets back at the very thought of her. He wanted to deny his uncle's request but he knew his uncle wouldn't ask him unless it was complete emergency. So, like the good nephew that he was he replied,

"Sure, I'll do it." Rocket muttered, hoping that he would wake up any moment from his nightmare. Sadly, his prayers were not answered.

"Thanks Rocket I appreciate it." He could hear his uncle beaming down the phone, Rocket was sure he had swiped a whole load of problems off his uncle's chest. After a while of small conversation they both said goodbye and hang up. He looked at his clock to see he had enough time to clean up before he went out. Taking a quick shower and pulling on some trousers and a t-shirt, he quickly grabbed an apple and some coffee before walking out of the house; off to what Rocket called his doom. He needed to come up with some kind of plan to survive and he needed to think fast since he only had twenty minutes tops. When he was just a few steps away from the building he quickly sent Tia a text that said '_wish me luck, I'm about to face crazy _lady' he had told Tia about the women that always tried to flirt with him, especially one called Lori who wouldn't take the hint that he wasn't interested. The plan he had come up with was simple. Get in; get out, that way nobody got hurt. His plan started off well, as he managed to duck past some young women coming out of the gym, however, his plan soon turned wrong. Rocket had just spotted his two cousins on the other side of the room when slim hands wrapped themselves around them.

"Hey Baby, you miss me." Lori whispered seductively into Rockets ear. Great! Just when he thought he might actually dodge her for once.

"Hey Lori, it's nice seeing you but I have a busy day so if you don't mind." He tried to say politely, while he attempted to wriggle out of her arms. Nonetheless, no matter how much he tried, Lori had the claws of a tiger.

"Oh come on, I know you've missed me, you know we should get together sometime..." At the last moment Rocket was finally able to duck out of her grasp and quickly walk over to his cousins. When was Lori ever going to get it, he wasn't interested. Out of all the people in the world why did she pick him? She was a very beautiful girl, she could have anyone. Besides, he wanted to stay far away from her even more now that his heart was only for Tia.

"Hey Hayley. Hey Samantha." Rocket smiled at his cousins, trying to look his normal self. Miserably, he was a rubbish liar and his cousin read him instantly.

"Lori's been trying to get her hands on her again." Hayley joked with Samantha giggling agreement. Rocket could only nod at his young cousins in the company of a silly grin on his face. His phone buzz, as he looked down and saw he got a reply from Tia. _Poor you, I hope you make it out without the need for any therapy sessions. _Rocket laughed at Tia's response and was just about to text back another one before his cousin interrupted him. 

"Come; let's make a run for it, before Lori's tries to get you to have a making out session with you." Samantha laughed at her poor older cousin, who winced at the very thought of the idea. Quickly gathering the rest of their stuff together they rushed out of the room just as Lori decided to try another attempt to get Rocket to take her out for a date. Rocket let out a loud sigh of relief, as they were about ten minutes away from the club. Rocket was in such a good mood now that he had gotten away from that woman that when the girls asked if they could got to the park he agreed. He sat down on one of the benches that over looked the whole place while his cousins went to go and meet one of their friends of the swings. He relaxed as he looked around the park. It hadn't change much from when Rocket and the guys had been kids, except that some of the equipment desperately needed a paint over but that didn't seem to bother the children at all.

"Rocket, look what we found." Hayley cried out joyfully, as Rocket broke out of his thoughts and turn too his two cousins that were sprinting all the way up the hill to him. He couldn't see what she was holding at first until she slid into a halt in front of him.

"Oh no, don't even think about it." Rocket replied firmly before they could even ask the question. In Hayley's arms lay a chocolate brown puppy that must be around seven months odd. Both of the girls' faces dropped.

"Please Rocket, he's just so cute." Samantha tried to persuade him with one of her puppy looks she would usually give him when she really badly wanted something.

"Yeah, we can't just leave him in that bag in the river." Her sister added to their defence.

"Huh what?" Rocket asked, not sure he had heard the last part correctly. Before he process the situation in further in his head a cat suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind him. The puppy went absolutely mental and jumped out of the Hayley's arms and ran after it.

"Wait!" The twins yelled and ran after the small puppy. Rocket was on his feet in half a second and ran after them. It was at a bit of a disadvantage because the girls had followed the dog into the woods, it was easy for the girls to slip under the bushes but not for him. He was grateful when he ended up on the street and saw the girls running down the road. Following them he was just about to catch up with them when he rounded a corner and bumped into someone by mistake and fell down. Horror rippled through his body when he realise who he had fall onto.

"Tia!" He cried out and instantly got off her, allowing her to breathe when his crushing weight had been remove. "Tia, I'm so sorry I didn't mean..." He paused shocked by his actions. It was only when Sonny crouched down beside her that he notice everyone else. Sonny and D'jok helped her to her feet. She seemed a bit dazed, until she looked at Rocket and seemed to finally understand what happen. "Tia are you alright, I swear I didn't mean to..." He stopped half through his sentence again when he couldn't think about anything else to say.

"Rocket calm down." Tia smiled, leaning her hand gently on his wrist, sending electric waves up his arm and made him stare at her. "It was an accident, no harm done right." She smiled again, making Rocket feel happy again.

"Rocket we got him." His young cousins sang as they came skipping back happily with that evil puppy in Hayley's arms. He shook his head disappointedly at the girls but he couldn't help but smile a little bit when he saw how dirty they were.

"My uncles going to kill me when sees the state of you." Rocket stated, rubbing his hand over his forehead. This was going to take a lot of explaining. As he rubbed his head he also notice that he was also messy and felt embarrass to meet Tia in this state.

"When did you guys get a puppy?" Mei inquired, bending down near the push chair and tried to ssh an upset Rosie, she must of sensed Rockets embarrassment and had tried to change the subject (it was one of the abilities that allowed her to rise to the title of spy master). The dirty girls looked at her with big smiles.

"We found him near the river by the park." Samantha stated, showing the puppy off to Mei. Rocket had to admit the puppy was rather cute looking. "Please let us keep him." Hayley begged to Rocket with her puppy dog look on her face. Samantha saw what her sister was up to and also out on the same expression; hell even the dog was giving him some kind of puppy pout. Why couldn't I be born blind? Rocket whined secretly, there was no way in hell that he could resist those little faces.

"We'll see what your dad says." He finally answered, earning a small cheer from the girls. If their hearts were going to be broken, then he'll let his uncle do it, who will probably pass the responsibility on to Aduim. He blushed when he heard Tia giggle behind him, making the girls notice her for the first time.

"Do you like our puppy?" Samantha asked Tia, as she walked up to Tia and place the puppy out in front of her. Slowly, Tia bent down and held her hand out for the puppy to sniff; the brown fluff took his time sniffing Tia's hand before licking it, allowing Tia to scratch the top of his head.

"He's lovely." She smiled back at the young girls and the puppy. Tia had always had a love for animals, even scary ones. The girls beamed back at her; whoever this person was they liked her.

"I'm Samantha and this is Hayley." The girl smiled at the nice person. So these must be the Rocket twin cousins, Tia thought to herself, she had heard many stories of them and the rest of his family.

"It's nice to meet you too; Rockets told me so much about you. I'm Tia." Tia grinned back. She noticed for a second that the girls' faces had turned to a shock expression but quickly turned back into innocent smiling ones. Unlike everyone else who had known the girls for a long time she would of realise the sly smirks at the corner of their dimples.


	14. The Match

**Wow! It feels like forever since I've uploaded something and that's probably because I haven't up loaded anything forever lol. :) Hope you like the next chapter and I hope I got Keria's name write since I'm not sure how it's meant to be spent. **

Chapter 14: The Match

Tomorrow was Jamie's football match. Rocket was really looking forward to meeting Tia there; he had no idea that Tia was such a football frantic. As soon as his cousins had invited her to their brother's football match, pure joy lit up on her face. For the next ten minutes when the whole group was walking back to his apartment, they spent most of their time talking about nothing but football. They found out they were both mid-fielders on their school football teams and talked about how they got into the sport. Rocket explained that football was his family's whole life, so it was in the blood. While Tia would never of played football if her mates didn't convince her to give it a try and never let it go since; despite her parents feelings towards it. He laughed to himself at the thought, he knew they had some kind of connection but he never knew they had so much in common. Not to mention that his cousins totally adored her when they found out that she also did gymnastics, they asked her a lot of questions about herself but thankfully none of it was about her background. His cousins just asked her questions about her favourite stuff like food or music. He was actually talking about Jamie's match with his family now (minus the Tia bit) and was listening to the advice that his uncle and father were giving him, until...

"Guess who's coming to the match!" Samantha shouted out suddenly, causing everyone too suddenly look at her and her sister, who both had evil smiles on their faces. Oh no! Rocket thought when he finally caught drift of the situation. He had to stop them but how; maybe he could try to divert the conversation or something. "Tia's going to be there." Too late, Rocket thought when his cousin shouted out before he had a chance to think of something to say.

"Really!" Jamie cried excitedly. Both of his sisters nodded. Great, now I'm in trouble, Rocket mentally slapped himself. Why did he have to have such cute cousins that were so evil at the same time? He shook his head and prepared for the bombardment that was about to pounce on him from his parents and possibly his uncle in a few seconds. Three, two, one...

"So Rocket, are you two seeing each other?" His mother inquired, leaning over her dish like she was trying to get the latest gossip on something at the hair dresses. He could only roll his eyes at his mother question, why was she so obsessed if he was with a girl or not? Maybe it was a girl thing?

"No mum, I and Tia are just friends?" He stated firmly, turning my attention back to my spaghetti and hoped it was the end of it, which Rocket knew wasn't but he still hoped.

"Then why do you always blush when you're around her?" Samantha questioned, nearly making him drop his cutlery and choked on his meatball.

"I'm not blushing." Rocket responded, after he managed to digest the meatball that had nearly stopped him from breathing. Even though Rocket didn't sound so convince himself since he could feel his cheeks warming up.

"So why are you cheeks turning pink now?" Hayley smiled sweetly, Rocket rolled his eyes as he considered talking to Mei about hiring his young cousins into the spy industry. They were too good at seeing things they shouldn't or maybe it was because he was the worst liar in the history of lairs when it came to lying to his family. He sometimes wondered why people thought he was the best at under cover jobs. A yawn escaped his mouths suddenly; he was too tired to bother arguing with them so I just ignored their questions until they gave up before I made an effort to create conversation again.

Tia didn't know if she should be scared or happy. She had been excited when the twins had invited her to their brother's football game. Back when she was younger she always had a love of football and was eager to start getting into the sport again. Of course she had to ask Sonny's permission first, since he needed to be with her mostly twenty-four hours a day and he said yes but she couldn't help but feel the yes was a bit forced and that there was something else going on. She tried to tell herself that she was just being silly and that it was just her imagination but the feeling refused to leave her. As Tia and Sonny drove down the streets towards the football pitch, she gathered up the courage to ask. Taking a deep breath she asked.

"Sonny?" There was a moment of silence why she waited for Sonny to answer.

"You want to know why I'm a little nervous about the match." He smiled, as he turned a corner to what looked like a giant football stadium with a lot of people walking through the front gates. Damn! Tia thought when she managed to process what Sonny had just said through her head. Why does he always know I'm going to say? As Sonny parked the car, he took off his glasses and turned to me. "The reason why I'm nervous is because I don't get along with Rockets dad." Tia's eyebrows rose in confusion but she sat patiently, as allowed Sonny to continue. "A couple of years ago when the boys turned sixteen Rocket wanted to join the army, Norata disagreed with him completely but when Rocket makes up his mind it's hard to change so Norata came to me and asked me to dismiss him from the idea, I tried but it didn't work. Norata says I didn't try hard enough and has blamed me ever since." He watched Tia as she nodded in understanding. It might of seemed weird to some people but Tia knew if Rocket's father was stubborn like Rocket then she could see how a man can hold a grudge.

"You worried he's going to be here aren't you." Tia questioned, earning a nod from the man that sat next to her in the driver's seat. "Well, let's hope he's not here then." Smiling, Tia undid her seat beat and jumped out of the car before Sonny could protest. Shaking his head Sonny followed the young girl out of the car. Tia breathed in the energetic atmosphere. Lots of people had come to view the game, especially families, possibly coming to see their kids play in their match. She felt a gentle hand on her back from Sonny as he stirred in the direction to the seats. As soon as she arrived she instantly saw Rocket, on the first row talking to a tall man with white hair and he had a giant blue coat on. Then she saw the twins who were bickering with an older looking boy in a football suit (which she guessed was their older brother Jamie) and then a man and two other women, sitting on the edge discussing something. She instantly knew the woman with the hazel eyes was Rockets mum and the other woman the twins and Jamie's mum. The man on the other hand she was hoping to be the twins and Jamie's dad because if what Sonny said was true this was going to be an comfortable first meeting, but there was something in his face structure that reminded her of Rocket. Taking a deep breath she prayed that everything would go along smoothly, as they approached the family. The twins were the first to notice their arrival.

"Tia!" They both cried out as they zoomed past Rocket and the other man he was talking to. Both girls jumped on her at the same time; ending up with all three of them landing on the floor laughing their heads off. "You're late!" The little voices echoed, after the laughter had decreased a bit, Tia could only shrug at the comment and was helped up by Sonny, the twins and Rocket who had just ran over to see if she was ok.

"I'm not even playing and I already find myself dirtier then the football players." Tia laughed, cleaning off the dirt on her jeans. She smiled even more when she saw Rockets smiled spread over his face and felt his warm hand around hers.

"Glad you could make it." He grinned, letting go of her hand. When his warmth left her she felt suddenly depressed that he had let go but was determined not to show it.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." She smiled back, ruffling Samantha's hair, who let out a little giggle. Before anyone else could speak Jamie came bouncing out of nowhere.

"OhyoucametobehonestIwasb',wowyourpretty,nowonderRockethasa..."The young boy was unable to finish his fast speech since Rocket had slapped his hand over his mouth. But he really didn't need to worry about Jamie embarrassing him in front of Tia because she had not caught a single word of his speech.

"In other words he's happy to meet you." Rocket translated, trying to hold a firm grip on his cousin who seemed to have more to say and was not pleased to be muffled like a naughty dog. Tia tried her best to muffle the laughter that was threatening to escape her mouth without any success. She couldn't help it the scene in front of her was too funny not to laugh at. After a while Tia managed to suppress her laughter while Jamie seemed to give up struggling.

"It's nice to meet you Jamie." Tia smiled at the teenage boy in front of her. The young boy stared at her for a few moments before his face began to turn bright red. Why is he blushing? Tia thought but didn't say anything. Jamie loud muffles suddenly caught her attention. "Sorry I didn't quite catch that." She admitted realising his hand was still over his cousin's face; Rocket removed his hand, so his young cousin could speak.

"I said it was nice to meet you too." The bright haired grinned largely, revealing braces. Through the whole scene the youngsters had displayed the adults had been watching the whole thing. Norata was not happy when he saw Sonny with the girl that his two nieces had dive bombed and was about to go over and tell the man to get lost but the look in his sons eyes made him stop. The love in them was so pure that it nearly made him paralyse and when he looked at the girl he saw that she was giving the same look back. His attention only turned back to Sonny when they all approached.

"Everyone, this is Tia, Sonny's niece." After Rocket explained why Sonny was here he immediately bit back his tongue. He still didn't like Sonny but he didn't want to ruin his son's chance with a girl he clearly liked. So he decided to stay quiet; for now at least.

"Hello Tia, it's nice to meet you." Keira greeted the young girl, snapping Norata from his thoughts. Tia smiled nervously and shook the hand that Rocket's mother was holding out for her. She had never been introduce to anyone's parents before; not even Jonathan's since they had died when he was five.

"It's nice to meet you as well Mrs Harrison." Tia grinned politely.

"Please Tia it's just Keira." The older woman smiled, making Tia relax a bit and smile back even more. For the next few minutes Rocket was introducing Tia to everyone and Rocket was thankful that his dad hadn't tried to strangle Sonny yet but there was still a bit of tension between the two. His thoughts were interpreted when a loud buzzing noise sounded over the pitch, announcing the start of the match.


	15. Something's not right

**Chapter 15: Something's not quite right**

Rocket knew that Tia said she was a lover of football but seeing the way she cheered when the team scored or argued with a referee's decision made it clear that she was a football frantic, she was even able to give one of Jamie's team mates – Mia- some advice on how to dodge one of the defenders that she was having trouble getting past. It was also clear to Rocket that his family loved her and who won't she was: kind, friendly and ... prefect. It also seemed that Sonny and his father had come to a temporary peace with Tia around them but he saw when Tia was looking in a different direction or distracted, they would have a silent stare war with each other. But what they didn't know was that even though Tia couldn't see them she could still feel the tension between the two men and had asked Rocket what they were doing when she wasn't looking. However, at the moment everything was going alright. The whole family was here, including Tia, Sonny and Mia (who was Jamie's best friend when they were both in nappies so she could be included as family) and also Samuel who was Jamie's rival/best friend, it was quite an odd relationship but a solid one nevertheless; a bit like Aarch and his best friend Artegor. Rocket smiled at the scene in front of him, he missed being with his family when he was on missions and it was times like this that he thought about taking his dads advice and resign from his job but he knew that he needed to fight to keep moments like this alive; whether his dad agreed with it or not.

"Mama, can I have an ice-cream?" Samantha asked, seconds after she had swallowed the last of her double bacon cheese burger. Rocket looked at her in surprise, sometimes he forget that even though she and Hayley are quite slim and small; they ate like pigs.

"No Samantha you just had a burger." Auntie Aduim replied. A giant ham burger, Rocket thought silently to himself but then Samantha put on one of her cute puppy dog face which is really hard to say no. With a sigh Aduim nodded in agreement to Samantha's request, sending Samantha into claps of joy.

"Come on Tia, you can have an ice-cream as well." She smiled, before Tia had a chance to protest Samantha grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the ice-cream stand. Rocket laughed at the scene before him. Tia was too kind to refuse Samantha's offer because he knew that Tia was more of a chocolate fan then an ice-cream one. He rested his head on his arm as he examined the young woman picking out an ice-cream with his youngest cousin. She was the complete opposite of Mei, while Mei had a stunning face and god-like curves Tia had her own gifts. Tia face was soft and sweet, her eyes being her most attractive feature, her body was slim and petit with small breast but well placed curves around her thighs and killer legs; this had not gone unnoticed by the other men who had turned to stare at her, making Rocket want to punch them all in the face.

"Rocket, Rocket..." Hearing his name Rocket shook himself out of his day dream and turned to the people on the table. Crap, he thought, as a deep blush appeared on his cheeks when Rocket noticed everyone was staring at him with funny expressions on their faces. He had been caught staring; now he had to prepare himself for endless humiliation he was going to have to face when he was alone with his family. A loud giggle turned his attention again to his little cousin skipping back with Tia trailing behind her, trying to smoother her laughter with one hand and balancing the ice-cream in the other. Which she was doing pretty well, until a total idiot -who wasn't looking where he was going- fell right into Tia, covering herself in her own chocolate ice-cream. Rocket was beside Tia in seconds, placing a hand under her arm and carefully helped her up, while also giving the guy evils at the same time.

"Are you alright Tia?" Rocket asked her when he had finished staring the guy down in front of him.

"I'm alright." Tia answered, looking down at her now chocolate covered body. Rocket couldn't help but let a dirty thought run through his head when he consider a way of cleaning off the chocolate. Thankfully, his mother came to the rescue and ushered Tia into the ladies toilets.

Odd as it might sound Tia was kind of enjoying the pampering session that she was getting from Keira. She felt like she was in a spa of something when she learnt against the wall and let Rockets mum carefully sponge the chocolate away from her face. It was nice to be relaxed and not humiliated like she had been five minutes ago when that guy bumped into and made herself be splattered by her own ice-cream. She was thankful that Keira had stolen her away from the eyes of strangers.

"I'm afraid that's the best I can do Tia." Keira admitted in defeat. Tia opened her eyes and stared at her reflection, it was not as bad as it had been before but she still felt a bit worried when she walked back out there and Rocket would see her.

"At least I'll have something to eat later if I get hungry." Tia tried to joke, earning a small grin from the older woman. Tia smiled back, fiddling with the towel in her hand. She felt so mad with herself for not watching what was going on around her. A sudden warm presence on her shoulder made her look up to see Keira's hand on her shoulder.

"I wouldn't worry about him thinking anything bad; he's already head over heels about you." She smiled, causing Tia to turn ten different shades of red.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tia mutter but knew it was no use since she was playing with her hair and that was a clear sign that she was nervous or confused by what Keira said. The old woman only smile and didn't say anything more, obviously this girl was shy like Rocket and in her own time would admit her feelings to him. A knock on the door broke their concentration and looked to see the door open and Aduim come in.

"Hey, just came to see if you're alright." She smiled sweetly; causing Tia to smile as well, everyone in Rockets family was so nice.

"I'm alright thank you." Tia answered politely, popping herself off the side she had been sitting on and stood up.

"Well I am glad to hear that, Rockets outside worrying himself to death about you." Aduim laughed at her young nephew's interest in the young girl that seemed to catch everyone's heart when she walked past them.

"We'll be out in a few moments." Keira said, handing Tia a comb so she could brush her hair. Aduim nodded and left to tell the men the news.

"Jamie and Tia sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love..."

"Shut up man!" Jamie interrupted Samuel's bad singing, while blushing harder and harder at his friend's chants. It was quite clear that Rocket wasn't the only one in his family that was caught up in Tia charms, whether she knew it or not. All the men (except Rocket because he was too busy thinking about Tia) were doing their best to hide the laughter but they couldn't stop there smiles spreading wide across their faces. The sound of a door opening and closing caught Rockets attention for some reason. He didn't know why by his instincts suddenly kicked in. Turning himself a little towards the door, he saw a dark figure wearing a baseball cap and glasses, obviously trying to keep a low profile, sit at the table next to them and took out a newspaper. Turning to Sonny, he noticed that Sonny had also sensed something off about the man.

"Tia's fine she'll be out of the bathroom in the moment." Auntie Aduim voice broke mine and Sonny's silent commutation with each other. A small smile spread across my face to know Tia was ok. A black blur out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I saw the figure by the table walk in the direction of the toilets. I looked back at Sonny to see that he was calmly sipping tea but with his other hand under he sent me a message 'take him out' I gave him a silent nod and made an excuse towards the bathroom.

"See good as new, well almost." Keira joked at that state Tia was in, she still had chocolate stains on her t-shirt but they were less recognisable and at least her face was clean ad her hair neat. Tia also laughed at Keira's joke because she had to agree with the statement.

"Come quietly or the old lady dies." A voice grunted by the doorway. We slowly turned to see a tall man with a baseball cap covering his face holding a gun out towards Keira. Protective instinct took over and Tia instantly stood in between Keira and the gun. If she was right then this guy would want to bring her alive to Bleylock, so their fore wouldn't want to harm her; at least that was what Tia was hoping for. She could hear Keira muttering stuff in her ear such as things like was she crazy or something like that but nevertheless my plan worked because the man seemed to be fazed by my leap of courage and was trying to figure out a new plan when suddenly he went crashing towards the floor with Rocket on top of him. He quickly disarmed the man and cuffed the villain's hands behind his back; he only did the last bit out of precaution because the guy was now laying unconsisince on the floor. Looking up at us he sent us a quick smile before getting off the men.

"Are you two alright?" He asked, Tia gave a quick nod then turned to Rocket's mother who looked a little shocked but nodded also. "You tow best get back to everyone else while I hand this guy to the authorities." Tia and Keira nodded to his order and walked past him towards the door. "Oh and mum, don't tell dad about this." Keira turned to give him a confused look but nodded to his request, obviously to numb to respond verbally. Before they left Rocket shot another small smile at Tia, while they left him to dispose of the man that had just threatened to kill his mother.


	16. Have I got the Guts

Chapter 16: Have I got the Guts

Five hours. Five hours since this guy tried to kidnap Tia and threaten Rocket's mother and they still had nothing. Rocket and D'jok had been using every technique they knew but this guy wouldn't say anything. It was like this guy had completely shut down. He hadn't moved an inch since he had been placed in that chair. For someone that didn't act as a professional when he was on a kidnapping spree, he sure knew how to keep his mouth shut. Rocket was trying his best not to kill this guy on the spot. He honestly didn't know how D'jok could do this every day, since interrogations were his speciality. They needed to get this guy to crack but how? D'jok seemed to be reading his mind, since he suddenly changed his tactics.

"You know man I kind of feel sorry for you." D'jok sympathised, making Rocket raise an eyebrow but it quickly disappeared. He was interested to see where D'jok was going with this. "I mean tonight I get to go home see me kid and my fiancé in a nice warm bed, while you get to rust away in a cold little cell; alone." He paused and dragged his chair right beside the man so when he sat down again D'jok face was almost touching the other guys face. "You know what seems strange to me, a married man sleeping in his cell alone." For the first time the man's face actually show some expression. He stared wide eyed at D'jok who looked calmly back at him.

"How... how did you..." He stuttered but was interrupted by D'jok who answered the question that was also in Rockets mind.

"There's a white mark on the left hand of your fourth finger where your wedding band should be." The red headed integrator indicated at the white mark that he had just spoken about. Nervous sweat broke on the man's forehead; a clear sign that they were starting to get to him.

"So my question now is how did you, a married man became a kidnapper." D'jok voice had been a mixer of sympathy and something poisonous when he asked the question, sending goose bumps down Rockets spine. It freak him out sometimes that D'jok could be two different people at the same time. Rocket decided it must have been something he picked up for either his fiancée Mei (seriously that woman seemed to have five personalities at once sometimes but you kind of needed it for the job that she did) or something he just picked up along the way, since neither of his parents were like that. Snapping himself out of his thoughts Rocket watched as their man began shifting in his chair a little. Rocket and D'jok sat patiently, waiting for the man to break it.

"I can't, he has my wife." The man cried, finally breaking down from the pressure that had been magically placed over him by D'jok. Both Rocket and D'jok looked at each other before signalling to the guard to take the man to his cell. They knew they wouldn't be able to get anything out of the man once they knew the man's family was involved; call it years of experience. Well that was a waste of my time, Rocket thought massaging the temples in his head to get rid of the headache that was beginning to form inside his brain. Thankfully he didn't have the need to rip out the man's guts any more, since he would have probably done the same in the guy's situation. They would probably question him again later when they had information that confirmed his story and then send a crew (most likely them) on a rescues mission to save the guys wife, so that way they could get the information they wanted from the bloke.

"So, are you going to the fair tonight?" D'jok questioned randomly, which Rocket was grateful for since he needed to think of something that was off his job otherwise he was sure he would go insane.

"Yeah, promised my cousins I would take them, since Uncle Aarch can't and my parents are busy with the flower shop." Rocket answered. To be honest it didn't really matter if his uncle was able to take his cousins or not because he would always go anyway, it was kind of tradition for him. "So is Tia going?" He asked before he realised what words had just slipped out of his mouth.

"I don't know." D'jok answered honestly, giving his teammate/friend a shrug. "I know dad was meant to ask her but I don't know whether he's done it yet."

"A carnival?" Tia exclaimed after Sonny had asked if she wanted to go, while also trying to help Mary clean up the dishes they had just used for their dinner. As soon as she had got home she instantly put her pj's on, since she knew she wasn't going out anywhere else tonight and she needed something comfortable to change into, since she needed to change out of her one chocolate ice-cream outfit and being held at gun point. Thinking about it, Tia hadn't seen or heard Rocket ever since they let the cafe.

"Yeah, what you never been to one before or something?" Sonny questioned, drying a plate that his wife had just given him. Apparently, Mary was very strict when it came to family unity; that included doing chores together. To answer Sonny's question. No. Tia had never been to a carnival, she had been to parks and other places with roller coasters but never a carnival. She repeated her thoughts to Sonny and answered that she would love to go. "Trust me kid, you'll love it." Sonny smiled with Rosie laughing and shaking her rattle in the background in agreement with her grandfather's statement. All of the adults turned to look at her before turning back to their duty again. They were babysitting tonight, since D'jok and Mei were working late for some reason and Stella was busy looking after her step daughter's three sons; Ouch! Talk about a hand full. Sighing to herself Tia handed Sonny the last dish and stretched her arms to release some of the tension that had built up in her arms. However, a sudden stab of pain made Tia wince. She had forgotten that she was not completely healed from her broken bone in her arm yet.

"Are you ok Tia?" Mary asked, noticing Tia discomfort.

"Uuuummmm, yeah. Just won't be able to lift my arm up for a while." Tia grunted painfully through her teeth, as she gently placed her arm back down and gently cradling it with her other arm. Both Mary and Sonny surrounded her with worry but Tia pushed them away, insuring them that she was fine. Apart from that little scene with Tia's arm in the kitchen the rest of the night went smoothly. They watched a Disney movie with Rosie before Mary took her to bed and once Rosie was settled: Sonny, Mary and Tia sat in the living room to watch an old movie (called Schindler's List) before they went to bed themselves. "Goodnight Sonny, goodnight Mary." Tia yawned, as she walked into her room.

"Goodnight Tia." They both whispered, smiling after her, as they made their way to their own bed for the night.

"Look Rocket look! I want one." The twins cheered, as the made there way up to stalls with giant toy giraffes hanging from the top. Samantha was staring lovely at a yellow giraffe while Hayley stared at a blue on. Rocket scratched his head in confusion (he never really did understand what girls loved so much about cute stuff animals) as his cousins continued to stare at the prizes their eyes had seek.

"Step right up folks! Try and goal five goals and I will let you take home a prize!" The carnival man cheered. At that moment both of the twins turned to him and gave him their cutest puppy dog faces. Sighing to himself, Rocket walked up to the man in the booth and paid two tokens. He knew his cousins wanted those giraffes, so he was going to get them. Seeing what the game was, Rocket smiled to himself. The point of the game was to kick the balls into the holes, something that was his speciality. Taking the ball from the carnival owner, he played with it for a while before kicking it to one of the high scores which allowed you the highest points, which were then followed by another nine goals. At that moment the carnival mans mouth dropped open and a huge eruption exploded from the crowd that was watching from the time. It would have been impossible to make a roll of goals like that; unless you were an expert aimer like Rocket was.

"Tia did you see that! Wasn't that awesome!" Samantha shouted. Hearing Tia's name Rocket spun around to see the whole Sonny clan had arrived and right in the middle was his sweet Tia. Wait his Tia!

"Yes that was an amazing shoot." Tia replied in agreement. For a moment Rocket couldn't find any air to breath. It seemed that Mei had convinced Tia to wear a yellow summer dress that showed off her nice legs and hugged her curves nicely. She also had a bit of make-up on but not that much so it looked more natural then trashy. In fact his heart was beating so hard in his chest that he couldn't hear anything, not even when the carnival owner tried to hand the two stuff animals he had just won until they were thrown into his face. They were suddenly yanked out of his arms by his younger cousins who were jumping around with joy with their prizes, in fact they were hugging so tightly that Rocket believed if they were real animals; they would be dead by now. His sight re-focused on Tia who was holding Rosie at the time, while Mei and D'jok were having a go at the game as well. Regaining his control, Rocket took a few deep breaths and walked over to Tia.

"Hey, I'm glad to see your here." He greeted with a cheeky smile on his face. Tia turned to him with a smile on her face.

"Hey, you were great back there." Pointing to the place where D'jok and Mei had just won their own stuffed animals and were laughing their heads off.

"Thanks!" He managed to stutter, rubbing the back of his head nervously and trying to keep the blissful explosion inside him contain. She thought I was great; Me! Rocket thought to himself like a love struck teenager; which he kind of was, only a little older. A high pitch laugh made Tia and Rocket look down to see Rosie laughing at Mei and D'joks little play fight with their stuff animals, who were now walking back to them. But suddenly they both stop with looks of horror on their faces, making Rocket hairs stand on edge. D'jok made a few quick symbols towards Rocket which spelt out 'Run man, run!' Just as Rocket was about to confront whatever threat was behind him, he felt something slam into his back.

"Hey Rocket, surprise to see you here." Lori shrieked, nearly bursting Rocket's ear drum and maybe cracked a few mirrors in the process. Rocket had to use all of his might not to flip her into the stand of stuffed animals.

"Hey Lori, what are you doing here? You hate carnivals." He questioned, trying not to sound like he was tempted to kick her head into one of the goals for ruining his moment with Tia. Lori let out another hysterical laugh that made Rocket and the people around him want to cover their ears.

"Don't be silly Baby, I've always loved carnivals." She corrected him, which Rocket found weird since he had known her since they both started school together and ever since that clown came into school one time and scared her shitless she refused to go anywhere near clowns. That was one of the reasons Rocket loved carnivals, she was never here; well, suppose to never be here anyway. "So you want to go in the underground love machine with me?" A shudder went down Rockets back, he and the guys (except D'jok) refused to go on that boat for two reasons: one the ride was lame and dorky and two, they were pretty sure that was where Rosie and been conceived.

"Sorry Lori, I'm afraid I can't." Rocket stuttered out, trying to get the horrible imagines out of his head, especially the ones if he and Lori went down there.

"Why not?" Lori asked, stepping on her tip-toes so that her face was just an inch away from Rocket. Well it might be the fact that you're a crazy woman who scares the life out of me, Rocket thought silently as he tried to think of an excuse to get out of here; fast.

"Because he's with me." Tia injected suddenly, standing by his side and holding his hand which was making his stomach to do flip flops with the skin contact. He looked out of the corner of his eye to see every ones mouth had dropped right open. The death glares that Lori was giving Tia seemed to be able to pierce her skin. Man, if looks could kill, Rocket thought, tightly holding onto Tia's hand in thanks. She squeezed back in reassurance.

"I didn't know you were dating someone Rocket." Lori hissed, trying to keep calm by the looks of it.

"Yeah almost two months now." Tia added before Rocket could reply and Rocket nodded in agreement. However, Lori seemed less then convinced.

"Really? Then prove it." She smirked, making Rocket stiffen. How where they going to get out of this? Rocket deliberated with himself, trying to come up with a plan.

"Sure." Tia answered and before Rocket could ask what she was going to do; Tia stepped on to her tip toes and kissed him. He was in shock for a split second before he realised what was going on and kissed back. This has to be a dream, Rocket considered, as he felt Tia soft mouth rub against his. It was like tasting creamy white chocolate. He was sure that it might have gone further if they didn't hear Sonny cough which reminded them where they were.


	17. Truths Revealed

Chapter 17: Truths Revealed

For the whole night Tia and Rocket had to pretend they were a couple because ever since they had kissed in front of Lori, the young gymnast and her two wannabes (who Rocket also recognised as two girls who wanted to date him but were too scared to get in front of Lori) stalked them through the crowds of people. D'jok refused to stop laughing about it since he admitted it was the worst case of surveillance he had ever seen. They didn't do anything like they did in front of Lori (even though Rocket was using all his might not to do it again) but they did cuddle and sometimes they would whisper some things into each other's ears but nothing else. But despite the weird circumstances they had a great time hanging out with each other when they went on some on the rides –except the Love Machine- and Rocket won a cute teddy bear for Tia and then Tia returned the favour by showing off some of her football skills that she hadn't used in ages and won Rocket a red giraffe. But the high light of the evening was when a clown had jump in front of Lori and she screamed her head off and in her attempt to escape tripped and fell into a pool. However, it was now time for the families to say good bye because it was getting late and the twins needed to get to bed and Rosie had fallen asleep an hour ago. Regretfully, Rocket kissed Tia on the cheek and said good bye to everyone else before directing his sleepy cousin's home; eventually ending up to piggy back both off them because they were so tired. Once he had dropped his cousin's home he set back to his place. The whole time he was haunted by the kiss he had shared with Tia and it refused to leave his head no matter how hard he tried to get rid of it but honestly; he did want to get it out of his head. The kiss had sent his nervous system into overdrive. Every inch of his skin tickled when he felt her soft lips against his and how he got an electric shock every time his hand caressed her skin. It wasn't until he was nearly home that he realised that he had something smooth in his pocket and pulled it out to find it was a purse; Tia's purse. Oh crap! Rocket mentally slapped himself, she had asked him to hold it while she taking one of the twins on to the ride and totally forgot to give it back to her. Quickly checking his watch he made a last minute decision and jogged back in the other direction.

Where is it? Where is it? Tia wondered for like the millionth time when she was checking under her pillow (random but she was desperate) letting out an angry sigh she threw the fluffy cushion across the room. Tia had looked everywhere for her purse but she couldn't find her purse anywhere, she had never felt so guilty; Sonny had brought it for her when they had gone out shopping the other day. But now she had lost it and she was never going to forgive herself. Think Tia when did you last have it, she thought to herself. The only time she remember having it last was when she had given it to Rocket so she could take Samantha on one of the... That's it! Tia cheered, Rocket must have it. Grabbing her phone she quickly dialled in Rockets number and prayed her theory was right.

"Hello." She heard Rocket stuttered, it sounded like he had been running or something because he sounded out of breath.

"Rocket it's me." She answered, nearly jumping with joy for two reasons: hearing his voice and the thing he said next.

"Hey Tia, I was just on my way around yours to give you back your purse." Tia had to cover her mouth to cover the scream of joy that was burning on the tip of her tongue. Taking a deep breath, Tia calmed herself down before answering.

"Thank you so much, I've been looking for it everywhere." She cried in gratitude, earning a small laugh from the other side; a red blush spread across Tia's face. They arranged to meet ten minutes (it would have been five but she could tell he needed a quick rest, so she ordered him to sit down and rest) this gave Tia some time to prettify herself before he got here. As soon as the door bell rang, Tia thunder down the stairs and zoomed towards the door. "I've got it." She called out when she zoomed past Sonny and Mary and slipped through the door.

"You are a lifesaver." Tia breathed, as she found a handsome (but sweaty) Rocket standing outside her door with her purse in his hands. He smiled back at her as he placed the soft leather in his hand.

"You're welcome and I also need to give you my thanks." He grinned and almost laughed out loud when he saw the confused expression that spread across Tia's face. "You saved my butt from Lori tonight." He answered, turning Tia's confused look into a laughing one.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to let you face her by yourself." She shrugged; like it was no big thing. But to Rocket it was like be saved from a military Technoid robot about to take of his head (Rocket knew what that was like) he had to quickly regain his composer when he started to smelt into a loving day dream with him and Tia kissing again.

"Well, I'll see you around." He smiled about to leave except before he could take one step Tia grabbed on to his arm.

"Wait Rocket there's something I need your help with." Tia cried out suddenly, making Rocket spin around; ready to help her with anything she needed. "You see there's this guy..." She began. Rockets heart stopped beating. There's a guy... Rocket thought sadly but tried not to show it; he was meant to be her friend first and if she needed help he was there to help her. "And I kissed him." If it was possible for someone's heart too full out at this moment then Rocket would have exploded on impacted. "But I don't know if he feels the same about me." She admitted with an innocent smile on her face.

"Is he someone I know?" Rocket enquired, wanting to secretly punch the guys light out. Tia looked at him with a smirked on her face, as if she knew something that he didn't but he was meant to know.

"Yes, you know each other very well; almost like your one of the same really." She smiled gleefully. The idea of what Tia was trying to tell him suddenly hit Rocket.

"Oh." Was the only response he could come up with? She liked him, she really liked him! At least that's what he was hoping for. What he didn't know was that his wish was about to come true. Tia's sweet smiles made his stomach do flip flops but he felt himself stop breathing when she inch towards him and brushed her lips against his; making his heart rate beat faster. Temptation over took him as he leaned in to close the gap between them and gently pressed his lips against hers. The wonderful feeling of happiness that burst through him was immeasurable; in fact he swore he would have passed out if he quickly didn't regain sense of what was going on and regrettably broke the kiss.

"Tia, don't you think it's too soon?" He questioned his young angel still feeling quite dizzy from the exchange of passion they just had. Rocket almost laughed when he saw her roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Honestly Rocket, I don't know but all I can think about is you." She smiled reaching out her hand and took his; these actions sent shock waves up his spine and almost made him lean in and kiss her again but was able to restrain himself in the last second.

"I just want you to be happy." He whispered, placing his head against hers and pushed the strands of loose white her out of her face. The coolness on her head helped Rocket to relax and didn't make him budge when she gently placed a warm, soft hand on his cheek.

"You make me happy Rocket." She answered quietly back. After this answer, Rocket was unable to control himself anymore and leant in to reattach his lips with hers.

The next morning Tia was still having day dreams about the kiss she had shared with Rocket last night on the front porch, which was then rudely interrupted by Sonny calling for her to come back inside (the second time that night he had interrupted them kissing) and was now looking at the phone every minute, since he had promised to call her after breakfast; breakfast had finished five minutes ago.

"You're excited over something." Mary observed, as she placed a tea down in front the young girl who was moving in her seat every two seconds.

"Probably something to do with Rocket kissing her last night and promising to call." Sonny commented while he continued to read the comics in his news paper. Tia snapped her attention away from the phone and shot him an evil glare.

"You were spying on me!" She exclaimed, tempted to throw her tea over him- once it was cooler of course. Sonny peeped over his newspaper with a sly grin on his face.

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I just happened to overhear... and see." He insisted but it didn't stop the look that Tia was giving. "Besides, I agree with Rocket, I think it's too early for you to start dating again." The older man added, creating Tia to let out a depressed groan. Not him as well, Tia thought as she slumped her head on to her hand with a frustrated frown on her face. Before she could answer Sonny's remark the bang on the letter box announced the mail had arrived. As Mary left the room Tia grabbed Sonny's hand and made him look her in eyes.

"You're probably right but to be honest I'll probably never be ready but I have to try and move forward and put the past behind me." Tia pleaded with the newest father figure in her life. Hearing the courage and hope in her voice Sonny grabbed onto Tia's hand a little bit tighter.

"I know, just know that I'm here for you when you need me." He smiled back at her before they embrace each other in a hug. Tia thought she couldn't be any happier then she was at this moment but the post Mary was about to deliver to her was about to prove her wrong. She hadn't noticed it at first because Mary seemed in no rush to hand it to her but just as she was staring at the phone again; Mary took the opportunity to dangle it in front of her face. Seeing what it was Tia snatched it from her opens and ripped it open before greedily reading through its continents. Not believing what she was reading she read it through five extra times before shouting out...

"I'm in!"


	18. Want to go to lunch

Chapter 18: Want to go to lunch

Rocket was trying his best to listen to what Tia was trying to tell him but it was kind of hard to listen to what she was shouting down the phone and was speaking to fast in excitement over something. He waited patiently for her to stop before he asked,

"Could you repeat that again but slower this down and quieter?" Rocket asked her, hoping he didn't hurt her feelings or something by not being able to listen the first time. He heard girls were sensitive (even though Tia was like no other girl he had ever met) he didn't want to take any chances. But thankfully he just heard her laugh down the other end of the receiver; allowing Rocket to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, a little excited." She giggled, making Rocket's heart melt at the cuteness; her laughter was just as sweet as the passionate kiss they had shared last night. "I got into college!" She yelled done the phone, since she was unable to contain her happiness. After the ringing in his ear had stopped, it took Rocket a moment to realise what she had just said.

"No way! Are you serious? Which college? What courses are you taking? What..." Rocket continued to ramble on with random questions until he was out of breathe; at least he would have done if Tia hadn't spoken up half way through.

"Rocket calm done I can't answer all these questions at once." She finally managed to interrupt. Rocket could feel himself blushing red in embarrassment but a sudden idea hit him.

"Then how abut we talk about it over lunch or something?" He dared to ask, crossing his fingers like a ten year old and quietly chanting 'please' over and over again.

"Yeah I love to." She cheered, earning Rocket to make a childish fist punch into the air but quickly regained his composer.

"Cool, I'll pick you up around twelve. He smiled, unable to get the look of joy off his face.

Tia was so excited. She was going on a date with Rocket; at least she thought it was date, their relationship had taken an interesting turn last night and now she wasn't sure where it was going. I guess I'll just have to confront him about it at lunch, Tia told herself, as she looked through her wardrobe. It had been so long since she had been on a date that she had no idea what to wear and not knowing where Rocket was taking her made her more nervous, she wasn't sure if she should dress casually or dress herself up a bit or go somewhere in the middle. Please God send some help, Tia cried out, almost going mentally insane.

"Need some help?" Mei chirped in as she skipped into the room with Rosie on her hip, rattling her rattle around and laughed with glee at the mystical sounds it made. Tearing her attention away from the cute scene, Tia happily nodded to Mei; for once God had actually answered her prayers quickly.

"I could use a lot of help!" Tia exclaimed, directing her hand towards the cupboard that was filled with clothes that had been mostly picked out by Mei; if anyone needed help in situations like these, it was Mei you would want for help. Placing Rosie into Tia's capable hands, Mei took two seconds looking at her wardrobe before pulling out a nice pair of denim jeans, a creamy summer blouse that had not sleeves with no back and a small pair of comfy but pretty looking heels (which Tia was pretty sure Mei had slipped into her bags when she hadn't been looking) and handed the pile of clothes over to her. Causal and yet a bit formal, Tia admired as she examined the pieces of material that Mei had just hand to her. Sitting in her other arm, Rosie cheered in agreement with her mother's choices. Seeing how Mei had quickly picked out her clothes so fast made Tia start to wonder... "How would you know if this is good enough for where Rocket's taking me?" She question, suspiciously eyeing the woman who was grinning back like crazy at her.

"Let's just say, being a spymaster has his advantages." She smirked back. Before Tia could comment of her friend spying on her love life, Mei dragged to a chair with a mirror in front of it. "Now, what to do with your hair?" Tia could hear Mei quietly mumble herself. Rolling her eyes she allowed Mei to play with her hair, allowing Tia to sit back and day dream about what he date would be like.

Rocket was having similar problems, as soon as he had put down the phone but he also had to pick a place to go and have a nice lunch. He wanted some place causal but nice, then he thought of the little cafe that he sometimes stopped at to get coffee after his jog; which had a nice view of the ocean. It was perfect; at least, he hoped it was. Rocket wasn't sure since he was no expert in the love department. Putting his doubts to the side he searched his closet until he found a causal pair of trousers with a shirt, he looked down at his watch to see he still had two hours before he had to pick Tia up. I guess I can drop off those reports first and maybe stop by my parents place to pick up some flowers for Tia, He wondered to himself. He had just grabbed his reports off his desk and was putting on his shoes when the door bell went. Who could that be? Rocket thought since he wasn't excepting anyone. Opening his door he found D'jok, Micro-Ice, Thran and Ahito (sleeping on his brothers' shoulder) standing outside his apartment.

"Well don't you look handsome?" D'jok joked with the others muffling laughs in agreement, Rocket only responded by rolling his eyes at them. How did I become friends with them? I mumbled to myself.

"What do you guys want?" He almost hissed, wanting to get rid of them as soon as possible so he could go and do his few jobs and then go and pick up Tia.

"We were going to ask if you wanted to go to the gym and get something to drink afterwards but it seems you have other plans." Thran grinned unpleasantly, forcing Rocket to suppress a shiver.

"It wouldn't have to do with a certain blond with bright green eyes and cute dimples." Micro-Ice suggested with a glint of evil in his eyes.

"No." Rocket shot back at his small friend but he could feel his cheeks warming up, giving away what he was really thinking.

"Liar, the blushing just sold you out." Thran laughed out loud, including everyone else around him (even Ahito, who had been sleeping the whole time) making Rocket blush even more; which then made the guys laugh even more. This made Rocket think how could he ever be friends with these crazy people even more.

"So where are you going to take her?" D'jok asked, being the first to recover from all the laughter.

"The Art House, you know the one with the great view of the sea?" He answered just wanting to get rid of his friends, so he could leave.

"Nice Choice." All of the guys chorused –apart from Ahito because he had falling asleep again- taking this as a good sign he weaved his way past his mates and almost ran to his car but was able to contain himself. Slumping into his car seat with relief, Rocket threw his eyes into the keyhole and switched on the engine. Taking his sunglasses off the dash board he and then sped off to the office.

"What are you doing D'jok?" Micro-Ice asked his best friend, as the red head took out his phone and dialled in a number.

"Do think I would live if Mei found out I didn't instantly tell her that Rocket had a date with Tia?" D'jok answered with the twins muttering in agreement and Micro-Ice only shaking his head in disbelief. "Hey honey, are you popping over to mum and dad's house... Cool, no reason just thought you like to know that Tia might need some help to get herself ready with her date with Rocket..."

Tia couldn't wait. She was so nervous and excited, even though it wasn't twelve yet she was already sitting at the window, waiting for him to come. As she waited, the same questions kept repeating themselves in her head. Did she look ok? Would he like it? Where was he taking her? The possibilities of random questions were endless. However, Mei was on the floor playing with Rosie and was being driven mad by Tia's foot constantly tapping.

"Will you cut that out?" Mei finally demanded, not able to take Tia's annoyance anymore. Tia nearly jumped out of her skin at Mei's sudden outburst.

"Sorry Mei, I'm just really excited." She smiled sweetly, hoping that her friend would forgive her. Despite how annoyed she was early, Mei couldn't help but smile at her friends' happiness. Suddenly, just as the clock struck noon, both girls heard the roar of a SUV engine. "He's here!" Tia squeaked, jumping off the seat and racing towards the door; only to block by Sonny.

"Hang on a second tiger." Sonny laughed, as he tossed her a small object. After a quick examination of the small device, she recognised it as a small button; similar to the one Rocket had given her. "I want you to be happy Tia but my first job is to insure you protection and since I won't be there with you, I want you to have that just encase anything happens." The older man explained as he helped Tia strap the panic button under the wrist band of her watch, so it was easy to reach but still hidden from view.

"Thanks, I promise I'll be careful." Tia smiled sweetly and gave Sonny a warm embrace before heading towards the door. As soon as she opened it she saw Rocket standing at the door with his arm rise since he had been about to ring the bell. His mouth moved for a second -as if he was about to say something- but froze when his eyes took in her full complexion. Tia was just able to hold back the laugh she had nearly released but could not stop the smug look on her face. She knew Mei had done a good job...

Rocket was finding it hard to drive to their destination since his eyes kept leaning back to the stunning angel that was sitting behind him. He was still quite upset with himself for bringing her flowers, since a colleague distracted him and somehow managed to convince him to help him out with some stuff; barely made it to Tia's on time. Again, he found his eyes moving away from the road in front of him and back to Tia. She was dressed in stylish jeans with a cream top that showed off a back and also had her hair down up (something Mei probably helped her with) and had a little bit of make-up on. His gazed turned back just in time to dodge a truck that had tried to overtake them. He was tempted to shove his finger out the window to him but remembered he had a beautiful lady sitting next to him.

"You look beautiful." Rocket stated, trying to break the silence. Tia turned away from the window she was day dreaming out of to him.

"I know, you've said that three times now." She smiled back at him, making Rocket mentally slapped himself.

"So, what's this place that you're taking me to like?" Tia questioned, trying to help change the subject from Rocket's embarrassing moment, which Rocket was happy to oblige.

"It's this little cafe with a great ocean view. Here it is now." He pointed. A large small grew on Rocket's face, as he watched Tia's reaction. Her mouth almost fell off her face when her mouth when she saw the view that Rocket was talking about. "Tia, welcome to Pearl Beach."


	19. Unexpected

Chapter 19: Unexpected

How the hell did this happen? Tia thought to herself as she laid naked right next to Rocket with only a blanket covering them. Their afternoon had be beautiful, the cafe he had taken her to was sweet and served delicious food , then after they we done they had gone for a walk along the beach, honestly, the sun made the clear blue sea glitter. Holding each other hands; it was like a wonderful dream. All the trouble started when...

"_I want to show you something." Rocket suddenly broke, breaking Tia trance for the clear blue ocean. Before she had a chance to ask what Rocket placed a delicate finger on her lips and gently pulled her towards the cliffs that stood at the end of the beach. She could remember gripping on to his hand for dear life when he led her on the rocky trail and up the cliff side. But she soon got used to it and knowing that Rocket wouldn't let any harm come to her, she let Rocket guide her to the destination. "Here we are." Tia heard his voice echo because of the cave entrance that appeared out of nowhere. As soon as she entered it, Tia saw the place had been down up with football posters of Rocket's uncle and father when they played for the old Akillian football team. There were also holes craved into the walls and a small mattress with blankets on top._

"_This place is amazing." Tia laughed as she circled the place. Hearing Rocket laugh, Tia turn to look at the glitter of happiness shining for his beautiful hazel eyes. "What?" She questioned. Rocket just shrugged and placed his hands inside his pockets, walking around the cave for a moment before turning back to her._

"_I'm glad you like the place." He smiled, before moving over to the darkest corner of the room. Tia saw him reach for something but couldn't see what it was until he turned back to her again. "Drink?" He gestured, holding the drink up. Slowly, she nodded, letting Rocket guide her over to the mattress._

"_I can't believe you have a mini fridge."Tia finally exclaimed as she placed herself down next to him. Rocket just shrugged (again) moving his arm her shoulder and drawing her closer to his chest. Tia was glad to fold into his warm embrace. For a while they just chatted, allowing Rocket to explain why he had his own cave and also Tia telling him what subjects she was hoping to take at her new collage. Then one drink went by, then another and then another. From then on everything got a bit more; passionate. A sudden boldness came over Tia as she learnt up and attached her lips to his. Blazing heat over came both of them, as their hands moved up and down each other bodies, slowly removing their clothes..._

Tia was broken from her thoughts when she felt Rocket began to stir next to her. Calmly, she watched Rockets eyes flutter open and look straight into hers. He seemed confused for a second and carefully took in his surroundings before looking back at her.

"Oh!" Was the only thing Rocket was able to mutter out. Tia wasn't sure how to react to his statement. In the end, all she could do was hit him on the chest. "Hey! What was that for?" Rocket demanded, rubbing his bare chest, which nearly made Tia jumped on him for the second time.

"We just had sex and all you can say is oh?" She inquired angrily, heaving a heavy sigh, Rocket popped himself up on his arm, so he could get a better look at her.

"Ok, it was the best experience in my whole life," Pausing for a second he learnt forwards and whispered. "I would like to do it for a second time." Shivers ran up and down Tia's spine like lightening, sending her into overdrive.

"I wouldn't mind you doing it a third time, maybe even a fourth." She replied with a cheeky grin on her face. But all of a sudden Rockets face seemed to turn serious and sad at the same time.

"I didn't hurt you did I." He suddenly asked, sending Tia into shock. Why would he think that? Tia thought, it was the first time she had felt any kind of pleasure. However, thinking this made Tia realise why he thought this. Taking his hand in hers she kissed sweetly before placing his soft skin against her cheek and looking back into his eyes.

"Never." She whispered, kissing him again. Tia felt his lips move into smile, knowing the subject was over and done with, allowing the rest of their time together to be amazing.

"I had a great time." Tia smiled, once Rocket had stopped in front of her new home, it was now nearly evening (they would of been back sooner if Rocket hadn't been too busying making love to her for the third time) she was about to leave when she felt something warm grabbed her wrist.

"Forgetting something." Rocket commented. The blond girl could only stare at him in confusion, until he tapped his lips. Giggling, Tia learnt forward and brushed her lips against his, making Rocket shiver in excitement, as Tia continued to tease him. Finally, closing the gap, Rocket closed his hand around her neck and leaned in. Even though it was a short kiss it still left both of two love birds breathless. "I'll call you." He smiled, Tia nodded and this time didn't have any trouble getting out of the car –which she kind of regretted since she wanted another kiss- walking slowly up the path. Rocket made sure she was inside the house before setting off again. Inside Tia pinched herself, nope! Defiantly wasn't dreaming, she sang to herself, taking her heels off and placed them on to the shoe rack. For a moment she couldn't help but study it. For a house with two (now three) people living in it they have a lot of shoes. At the very top she spotted a pair of brown shoes' that looked completely battered. Well that's strange? She wondered, noticing the other shoes were in clean and perfect condition. Stepping on to her tip-toes, she reached as high as she could. Grabbing it, she pulled one of the tattered shoes done for closer inspection but clicking noises caught her attention. Shocked, Tia looked up to see the shoe rack move to the side and in its placed displayed a small room, about the size of a cupboard with walls covered in different knives, guns and... A sword! There was even a tuxedo in the middle of the back wall; it had the whole secret agent get up inside.

"Oops!" Tia stuttered with her mouth hanging open in disbelief. She wasn't sure what to do –it wasn't everyday you walked into a secret room filled with all this kind of stuff- Tia wanted to shut it up again and pretend she never saw it but she didn't know how.

"I see you found my hidden stash." A male voice called out behind her suddenly, making Tia scream out a little in fright. Spinning around to face the voice, she released it was Sonny Blackbones who had caught her. Busted! Tia's mind echoed; as she tried to hide the embarrassing blush that was threatening to keep on to her cheeks. The new father figure in her life stood there with a mocking smile on his face like was trying to hide his laugh.

"Sonny! You scared me half to death. I... I..." Trying to find words to explain her actions but found her tongue tied. However, Sonny just laughed at her speechlessness. Taking the shoe from her slender hand and replaced it on top of the rack, which (ironically) hid the all of the secret agent stuff behind the shoe rack. Just as I thought things couldn't get any weirder, Tia sighed to herself silently, as Sonny began to interrogate her about her date.

Sliding on to the couch with nothing but a pair of baggy trousers on and a diet coke in his hand, he flipped on the T.V; nothing really bothering what was on but he felt too tired to do anything else. He considered having a beer but the headache he had got from the last couple of cans just disappeared, so he was in no rush to get another one so soon. Probably not the best idea to drive home either, he considered to himself but then again he had driven a tank while bleeding half to death and nobody got hurt; well excepted the people he intended to hurt. Still, probably shouldn't make a habit of it. Thinking back to how many drinks he had and the consequences it led to, Tia suddenly popped into his mind, letting his mind dream back to the wonderful moments he had shared with his bright angel; he remembered the fiery touch her hands made against his skin when she was feeling his body and the pleasurable moans she made when he moved in and out of her. Thinking about it just made Rocket tickle pink with enjoyment. The ringing from the telephone caught his attention, forcing him to leave his happy place.

"Hello." He sang cheerfully when he picked up the phone. However, his happy mood began to turn sour once he heard the news. "WHAT?" He cried out, fury burned with in him as he leaped to his feet, unable to control his anger Rocket slammed the phone back on to the stand and began grabbing clean clothes and his gun before zooming out of the house and racing towards his workplace; he needed to clean this up and fast.

Tia knew something was wrong the moment the atmosphere around Sonny suddenly changed. He had been happy, until the phone rang and he had gone to answer it; coming back with a grim expression on his face. His mood seemed to lighten up a little when Mei and D'jok came to drop off Rosie. At their arrival, Tia guessed the news that Sonny had got spread over to his son and future daughter in law as well, since they were wearing the same grim expressions but were doing their best to cover them up.

"Aren't you staying?" She asked confused, since Mary told her that every Sunday the whole family would come around for tea.

"Sorry Tia duty calls." D'jok smiled apologetically, while he gave his daughter a small kiss on the head and gave her a firm speech to be good when he and mummy were away. Which was kind of funny since Rosie was too busy playing with her rattle to be listening to him, plus she was two; she properly had no idea what he was saying anyway.

"But before go..." Mei spoke with an inquiring tone set into it. "How did you date with Rocket go?" Tia shook her head, not knowing if it was the spy Mei that wanted to know or the girly Mei; in the end she chose the girly side.

"It was great." Tia simply stated, giving a simple shrug but the small smile on her face –that Mei did not fail to miss- gave away that there was more to it than just being 'great'. Mei shot D'jok a look that read 'if you don't give me information from Rocket then no more sex' this was later confirmed by a small salute from D'jok who looked quite scared all of a sudden. Tia wanted to ask what was going on but saw they were in a bit of a rush so she let it go; for now. The rest of the night was weird; they went through the usual routine: help make dinner, have dinner, clean up dishes, put Rosie to bed and then watched an old movie on the television. When the time came for them to go to bed, Sonny followed her to her room.

"We need to meet up with Brim Simbra tomorrow." He calmly stated to Tia. Realising what Sonny meant, Tia mentally slapped herself, she had forgotten that she needed to visit Brim Simbra at least once a week to control her flux. Is that what he's been getting upset about? Tia wondered, but seeing the dark shadows under his eyes Tia knew it was something else. She nodded to his comment and was about to go to her room when Sonny suddenly pulled her into a hug. "You know I would never let anything bad happen to you." He whispered. The emotion in his voice touched Tia greatly, as she hugged him back.

"Yes." Was all she could say as a reply, not able to find any other words. Sonny let her go with a small smile on her face and let her go to bed. When she lay down and took in what Sonny had said, she couldn't help but wonder... Is he still after me? 


	20. The Hunt

Chapter 20: The Hunt

"How the hell did this happen?" Rocket shouted at the two security guards that had been watching the security monitors at the time when the incident happened. But secretly, Rocket knew the truth. Sinedd had been one of them, he knew their routines, their work schedule and pass codes; he would of known the perfect time to launch an escape. Guilt weighed heavy on his chest as he glimpsed the two figures laying lifeless on the ground with white sheets covering them.

"Don't go torturing yourselves." Brim Simbra spoke, as he and some of his attendants enter the lower decks, everyone stopped what they were doing for a few seconds and looked up to see him enter. Despite what Brim Simbra had just all of the men and women hung their heads in shame; they should have known, he had been one of them. After a few seconds everyone seemed to wake up and began getting back to their jobs. Rocket was the last to take his eyes on the leader of the Flux Society leader, who had began talking to some of the people to see what was the situation and turned to D'jok .

"Has Sonny been called?" Rocket questioned, he knew it was a silly question to ask, since Sonny was one of the top and would have know before himself but Rocket hadn't seen him arrive yet and when Sonny Blackbones was in a room you knew he was there.

"Yeah, he's staying up with Tia and he has Bennet and Corso watching the back and front of the house." D'jok answered, mumbling over the clip board he was examining, letting out a heavy sigh of relief, Rocket got back to his job. At least someone knows what they're doing, Rocket thought to himself, as he turned back to the security guards that had been guarding Sinedd for the past couple of days, continuing to question the two men; trying to figure out if Sinedd had said anything that might lead to any idea of what his plans might of been. It wasn't the fact that Sinedd had escaped under their noses that annoyed him the most (well, it did a little bit) but what he had taken. Somehow, Sinedd –the third most hated guy in the universe- had somehow snuck into the information centre and had stolen some kind of file. Whatever information he had, it was dangerous. As soon as he and D'jok finished their questions and research, both of the young army men got into Rockets car and began their own land search for the most wanted man on Akillian.

Tia couldn't sleep. Haunted thoughts of what could be going on outside this house had Tia tossing and turning in her bed, struggling to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Once she tried to close her eyes but the dark images that appeared behind her eyelids made her swear she would never close her eyes again. It also didn't help that her room was pitch black, not even a glimpse of moonlight. Now I'm just being silly, Tia tried to tell herself but it did nothing to calm her fear. The sound of the floorboards squeaking made Tia nearly fall of her bed in fright. It's ok Tia, just some noisy old floor boards. But the sounds continued to echo through the night. That's it! Tia decided, throwing the covers off her and jumping off the bed. If she was going to get over this, then she was going to have to face it head on. Quietly, Tia crept through her bedroom door and onto the upstairs landing. Sticking her hand out she tried to feel if anyone was hiding in the shadows, as she moved further down the hall she began feeling a little better, knowing that some person wasn't hiding in the shadows. After checking the last shadow, Tia let out a sigh of relief and began heading back to her room for some rest. The sound of what sounded like a door opening instantly caught her sensitive ears attention. Huh? Tia wondered, about to see what it was when someone attacked her from behind. Iron arms wrapped around her neck, crushing her wind pipes and breaking the oxygen to her body. Without her ability to scream for help she had to use whatever method she could think of to escape. But as time went by Tia could feel her body beginning to weaken and she felt her arms feel heavy and full limp by her side. For some strange reason she could still see despite the rest of her body going numb. She felt the figure let go of her and passed her to someone else, even though she couldn't move her head, when Tia had been passed over she was able to see the lower half of the face that had bright moonlight shining on it; revealing a sick smirk. Sinedd! Tia's thoughts bounced up and down when she had realised who it was. But... it can't be true! He's meant to be in prison (he had freaking kidnapped her for goodness sake) Watching him, Tia saw his head suddenly snap to the other side of the hall and usher whoever was holding her into another room. Leaning against the person's chest the person moved in to an empty room and peek out of the gap in the door. The person was still holding Tia up right, so she could see through the gap as well. Sinedd had disappeared out of her view but she saw the door to the main room open and Sonny came out with a small gun in his hands. Defenceless, Tia was forced to watch as Sonny searched the area. She tried forcing her body to move but her body wouldn't respond and her mouth refused to move, making Tia's desperate warnings die inside her head. Watching in horror, Tia saw Sonny walk past when Sinedd suddenly leapt out of nowhere and attacked Sonny in the same way that he had grabbed her. However, unlike Tia, Sonny was trained in self defence and grabbing the back of Sinedd's shirt threw him over his shoulder, Sinedd crashed into the hallway table. Nevertheless, Sinedd wasn't afraid to actually take a person head on and lashed out, kicking Sonny's gun out of his hands and in the stomach at the same time. For what seemed like an eternity, Tia could do nothing but stare as the two men fought against one another, slamming fists into faces and knees into stomachs. It all stopped when Sinedd suddenly pulled a knife out of nowhere and ran at Sonny with it but instead of stabbing his old commander, Sonny stepped out of the way. Sinedd couldn't stop himself as he bashed into the stair railing and fell over it. The jail breaker screamed at the top of his voice in pure terror as he fell, then a loud thunderous crack which was instantly followed by... silence. Tia saw Sonny ran down the stairs after him, at the same time the sound of the front door banging open caught her attention and chaos erupted down stairs. Sinedd sidekick (now probably ex-sidekick) took this as an opportunity to pick Tia up and carry her across the hall way into another room. Since she had no control over her body's movements, Tia head hang limp over the strangers arm, making the whole world turn upside down. Suddenly, the person gently placed her down, letting her head roll to the side and watched as the man went over to the window and grabbed some kind of rope. Seeing what he was doing Tia could feel herself having a panic attack as the man came back over to her and tied the rope around her. Her breathing became more rapid as she seeked for control over her body.

"Let my daughter go or I swear I'll put a bullet in your brain!" Some hissed loudly, the man looked at whoever had just caught him. Tia could feel the darkness over coming her as her heart began to fail for all of the sudden pressure that was being forced into it. Invisible heavy weights dragged her eyelids down, closing the world around her, the last thing she remembered seeing was the man drawing his own gun and hearing both people fire a shot.

Rocket was driving like mad towards Sonny's place. They had just been informed by Mei that cameras had just spotted Sinedd and some other person making their way to Sonny's home and they were armed. They had wanted to call anyone that was watching the house but Mei told them she had already tried but someone had cut the phone frequency around that area. Spinning around the corner, Rocket put his car into over drive and zoomed down the street. Poor D'jok was doing well to remain calm in a crazy man's car and sent out orders to other men that were already looking in this area but weren't in the dead frequency range to keep a look out for Sinedd and the other person. Please, Please be alright! Rocket begged, circling another corner. He knew that Tia was protected by Sonny but he couldn't help but feel worried. Something wasn't right, who was the man that was with Sinedd and what were they planning to do? Slamming his foot on the brake, Rocket and D'jok stopped right in front of the house and jumped out of the car. D'jok ran over to the car which had Corso sitting inside to see what he knew while Rocket could nothing but pace in front of the gate. Right now he wanted to get inside the house and cling on to the woman that he loved with all his might but couldn't since he had no reason to enter the house and couldn't without reason or warrant. He knew she must be mad at him for not calling her like he had promised but he didn't care about that, he would never rest until she was in his arms. Stomping his foot impatiently, Rocket watched D'jok talk to Corso about what was going on until a loud scream inside the house broke the silence of the night. He didn't care if it was imagination or not he jumped over the gate -quickly followed by D'jok and Corso- reaching the door he thrusted his boot against the white door and kicked it open. The scene that lay before him was shocking. Sonny was leaning over Sinedd, checking his pulse. Looking up, Sonny caught Rockets eyes and shook his head. He could hear Corso calling for an ambulance behind him.

"What happened?" D'jok questioned his father, stepping beside Rocket. Sonny stared at Sinedd for a few more moments before standing up and looking at the two younger men, who would follow him to the death if he asked it.

"I thought I heard a noise and went to check when Sinedd attacked me, he came at me with the knife but I stepped out of the way and he fell down the stairs breaking his neck."Sonny explained, leaning against the wall like he hadn't slept for over twenty four hours. Rocket couldn't help but wince at the thought of Sinedd breaking his neck. Shaking himself free of the random thoughts, Rocket also learnt against something to steady himself, feeling all the anger that had fuelled him through the night leave his body. He watched as D'jok made his way over to his father and placed a firm but comforting hand on his old man's shoulder. I should be feeling good but I'm not, something still fills wrong, Rocket continued to think silently to himself as he thought to himself before realising their big mistake.

"The other man where is he?" Rocket cried out in panic, all the other men looked at him with strange looks, except D'jok whose panicked expression told him he knew. Before anyone had a chance to explain two shoots were heard upstairs. All at once, everyone ignored the dead man on the floor and raced up the stairs and separated to check every room.

"Mum?" D'jok cried out as he entered the spare bedroom, quickly followed by first Sonny and then everyone else. Mary was crouching with a gun in one hand and trying to stop the bleeding on her leg with the other one.

"Someone...help...Tia." The brave mother muttered, as she collapsed onto the floor. No! Rockets head screamed when he saw Tia on the floor and it looked like she wasn't breathing. His suspicions were correct when he kneeled down next to her and placed his ear on his chest; no heart beat. Shit! Rocket swore as he began immediately to perform CPR. Placing her into a first aid position, he gathered all the air he could and breathed his life into her, before he began pounding her chest to get the blood moving. Just as he was about to try his fourth attempt breathing oxygen into her again, her eyes suddenly opened and she took in a large breath before coughing it up again, flinging her arms around the place like a wild animal, as if she was trying to fight someone off.

"Tia! It's me." Rocket pleaded for her to listen as he held her hands firmly in his. She stared at him a moment, completely in shock. Gently, she somehow managed to free one of her hands from Rocket and placed it carefully on his face like she was trying to make sure he was real. Smiling back he placed his hand over hers and rubbed it lightly for comfort. "It's me Tia, really." Before any more could be said they were both distracted by the loud grunt, turning around, Rocket saw Sonny lifting up his wife and taking her out of the room -to properly go and use the medical box- D'jok had already disappeared out of the room and some time or another Bennet had joined them during all the chaos and was helping Corso carry a limp body out of the room. Feeling something grip on to his shirt Rocket turned back to Tia, whose large beautiful eyes had gone a bit bigger and were watching the three men carry the dead body out of the room. Placing his arms around Tia he pulled her closer to his body until he could smell the rosemary shampoo that lingerie in her hair.

After everything that had just happened, Tia still couldn't sleep. It wasn't because she was still afraid; it was quite the opposite in fact. She couldn't take her eyes off the gold ones that stared down at her lovingly and the feeling of the playful movement he was doing with her hair. Dame Simbai had come over early to fix the wound on Mary's leg (which thankfully had just been a flesh wound) after the medics had come around to take the two dead bodies away everyone was about to fill like they were about to fall asleep on their legs, so Mary –despite her injured leg- somehow managed to prepare sleeping arrangements for everything. Apart from D'jok who was sleeping in the nursery with Little Rosie (who had somehow slept through the whole thing) and Rocket, who was sharing her bed, everyone else was sleeping on the sofas in the living room. They could have been put in the spare bed room but no one wanted to sleep in the place where everything had just happened.

"What are you thinking about?" Rocket questioned concerned, rolling her eye Tia refused to answer and began caressing his cheek instead. Taking it as a hint about what she had been thinking about Rocket made no more questions as he continued to play with her hair. Suddenly bored, Tia pushed Rocket over and was now sitting on top of him. With a wicked smile she leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips. It didn't take Rocket long to realise what his wicked little minx was up to and grabbed her bum. The only time they parted from kissing was when they needed help taking each other's shirts off.


	21. Side Effects

Chapter 21: Side Effects

Tia shot up with cold sweat dripping down her face. Vomit swelled up in her mouth as she jumped off the bed and headed straight for the toilet. Clutching the toilet seat, Tia hacked up last night's dinner. She almost screamed in fright when she felt someone touch her back but she recognised the warm touch and was quite thankful for it. Her body continued to shake violently, as she threw up more dinner down the toilet. Once she had finished, she sat back against the strong, supportive chest that supported her from clasping on the floor. Her body had completely gone into shut down; she was surprised that she didn't start crying but then again she had been crying non-stop when she had first met these people who were now her family, so she guessed her body was just fed up with being a wimp. Trying to make her body relax, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, letting Rocket wipe away the vomit around her mouth, stroking her hair and telling her he loved her. All of a sudden, she felt her body being lifted up and was carried back to the bedroom, where Rocket placed her back under the silk covers.

"You ok?" He questioned her, stroking her hair out of her face. She nodded back with a small smile on her face and enjoyed the small comfort that Rocket was giving her. The nightmare she just had was horrible, all she could see was Jonathans face as he bedded her maliciously over and over again, she had been screaming at the top of her lungs that Rocket would come for her but all her husband did was give her a confuse look and spat in her face, saying he didn't exist. Honestly, the dream itself seemed so real that it had almost killed her from the grief and pain it made her feel; imagine what she would of felt if it was actually real. Taking a deep breath she sat herself up and leant her heavy head on Rockets shoulder.

"I hate being weak." She muttered sadly, circling a scar that ran along his muscular shoulder blade, thinking about all the brave stuff he must have done that got him the insane scars like this. At that moment, Tia felt two strong fingers being place under her chin and lifted her face up until her emerald eyes met Rockets shining hazel ones.

"Tia, you're the strongest woman I've ever met, don't sell yourself so short." Rocket informed her, admiration burned in his eyes. Tia was shocked, she had never had anyone who admired her before, her parents had loved her (she knew they did like any other parent) but they criticised her a lot, making her feel useless all the time and Jonathan... well, he was Jonathan. So what she saw in Rockets eyes touched her deeply. Leaning up, she kissed the corner of his mouth before snuggling back into his arms again and let him play with her hair.

Tia's conditioned worsen over the last two hours, as the side effects of the paralyzing tackle that Sinedd had used on her settled in. Nearly losing her last night gave Rocket cold shivers, thinking that her heart would of only stopped it her body had been having a panic attack or something; nearly being stolen through the window probably did that. Cold sweat broke down her forehead and she shook violently, vomiting up anything she had eaten the day before. Mary was tending to her now, while Rocket was outside listening to Sonny trying to negotiate another time for Tia to meet up with Brim Simba later on in the day when the worse side effects would have worn off. He winced when he heard Tia vomiting again. Just as he was about to go back up stairs to see her the front door slammed open and in stormed Mei with a huge box hanging under her arm.

"You guys are never going to believe this." Mei stated, stealing the phone from Sonny and slamming it down on the receiver, before Sonny had a chance to swear back at her the Queen of Spies kicked him butt first into the living and then indicated her finger at him. Rocket didn't need to be told twice to follow Sonny into the living room, otherwise she would of yanked him by the ear like a five year old kid –he knew because she had done it every time Micro-Ice acted a bit slow- staying low, as he sped off into the living room. Once she had also joined them she dumped the box on to the table and put on the radio and went around closing all the curtains in the room like she thought there were spies outside listening; possibly habit she had gotten into when she was given out secret information. "Ok we'll start on the big...no, huge problem we have on our hands." She gestured, sitting on the sofa and started going through her book full of papers, searching for something in particular. Rocket and Sonny just gave each other funny faces and sat down next to her. "Emperor Maddox is gathering evidence to fight for custody over Tia."

"What?" Sonny and Rocket both cried out at the same time, nearly falling off the seat in shock. Mei (be use to all the weird dramatics the men and their friends did in this family) seemed not to noticed their unusual behaviour because she was too busy trying to find whatever she was looking for.

"My spies in the Emperors unit have reported that he requested his top lawyers to find some kind of loop hole in the arrangement. One of the lawyers said that if he can somehow prove he is legally related to her in anyway then he can gain custody." After she finished, Mei pulled out a large rolled up piece of paper. Pushing the large box off the table and stretching it out across the table. She pointed to two names on the graph. Leaning forwards, Rocket examined the family tree to find that Emperor Maddox was a distant uncle of Tia's. He couldn't help but make a funny face at the discovery, it wasn't like they were blood related or something (he was only related through marriage apparently) but still it was kind of creepy. Feeling the discomfort in the room, he looked over at Sonny to see that he did not have a happy expression on his face either.

"Is there any way we can overcome this?" Sonny questioned, circling his finger around Tia's name. Rocket sent a quick pray to God for some kind of good answer, since no one trusted Maddox's 'parenting skills' to look after anyone properly; especially his white angel. A huge grin spread across Mei's face –scaring both Sonny and Rocket.

"Well, there was one name on here in particular that I thought you might recognise Sonny." Mei smirked, moving the piece of paper over to Sonny's side, so Rocket couldn't get a good look at it. He watched Sonny's facial expression as he looked down on the name the Mei indicated. It was funny to watch Sonny's eyebrows disappear into his hair line, snatching the paper up and holding it close to his face, before putting it down with a shock expression still on his face.

"Is this true?" Sonny asked his future daughter in law, who in return, nodded her head.

"Tripled checked it myself." Mei answered, assuring Sonny that the information was correct because everyone knew that if Mei had double check the information (let alone triple checked) then you would know that there was no way the information could be wrong.

Tia downed the banana and strawberry smoothie down in one gulp, since it was the only substance her stomach allowed to swallow at the moment. Mary was in the room looking after her; since Rocket had gone downstairs to sought out some business, along with D'jok and Rosie, who had joined her a few minutes ago to see how she was. She made sure she was dressed in her pyjamas before she let anyone else in because the last thing she needed was people getting suspicious to what she and Rocket got up to in her spare time; alone. The twisting feeling in her stomachs warned Tia what was about to happen next, quickly grabbing the yellow bucket and vomiting into it. Mary was next to her in seconds and helped rub down her back. Just when I thought I was getting better as well, Tia thought, leaning against the wall behind the bed.

"How's are sick patient doing?" Rocket laughed, as he and Mei walked in to the room, Rocket sat on the end of the bed, while Mei cuddled into D'jok. Tia still felt a bit light headed to think of some kind of come back, so she just sent back a glare before settling back into the cushiness of the bed, her technique didn't work since everyone began laughing at her. She didn't notice that Sonny had been leaning against the door frame, watching the whole scene take hold; a huge grin spread across his face.

"Isn't this a nice family scene?" Sonny joked, making everyone else laugh as well. However, Tia never failed to realise the strange looks on Rocket and Mei's face that made Tia think he was more behind the remark then met the eye. She decided that she would question Rocket later about it but right now she was too happy to ruin anything at the moment.

After two hours, Tia still had no idea what was going on. She still didn't understand the excuse that Sonny told her when she asked why Rocket was taken her to see Brim Simba instead of him. What made her more confused was that when she asked Rocket he changed the subject instantly. What the hell is going on? Tia wondered but kept it to herself since she was mad at Rocket and everyone for keeping something from her. Rocket also failed not to know this until they arrived at the United Allies Head Quarters, when he went to help Tia out of the car and she just brushed him aside. She didn't mean to be angry with him but she was starting to get fed up with people keeping secrets from her even though it was obvious that they were secrets about her. Stomping towards the front desk, Tia thought she saw the same woman at the front desk that she had seen at the protection agency, until she got a bit closer to realise it wasn't. The similarities were confusing though, since she was showing off the same amount of cleavage as the other one. She let Rocket do all the talking, since she didn't trust herself to stay polite with the way the girl was looking Rocket up and down. What so great about him anyway? Tia cursed, as they made their way across the room. Tia sat on the side that only had one chair, so Rocket was forced to leave her side and sit on the opposite side of the room. Looking the other direction, she forced herself to look at the door instead, so she wouldn't fall for his pleading gold eyes.

"Tia please don't be like this, we're only..." His appeal was quickly cut off when Tia shot him hot daggers that looked like they could blow up anything if she concentrated enough. Moments went by and the anger fired up in Tia began to dim down and was swamped with guilt. They had done so much for her and she was getting mad over one little thing. Taking a deep breath, she made her way over to him and kneeled beside his chair.

"I'm sorry." She muttered, bowing her head in shame. Movement caused Tia to look up and see Rocket getting on the floor and kneeling beside her. Taking her hand in his, he placed it against his lips and kissed it before placing it on his cheek.

"I'm sorry too." He smiled. Tia could only guess what he was apologising for but was grateful for it nevertheless. It must of looked weird for anyone walking past to see two people sitting on the floor instead of the chair but Rocket and Tia were too busy enjoying each other's company to notice the odd stares. The little moment was broken when an assistant of the Flux Leader came out and announced that Brim Simba was ready to see her now. Giving him a small smile, she kissed Rocket on the cheek and followed the man into the office.


	22. Family Tree

Chapter 22: Family Tree

The Flux Leader's office was very big and a little over decorated in Tia's opinion. On the right side and middle of the room, the area was a normal office with expensive looking furniture and selves filled with books with a big desk that had racks filed with files. The left hand side of the room had more of a leisure feel to it with a Japanese styled table and comfy pillows and a small water fall on the other side of the room. Brim Simba didn't recognise that Tia was in the room at first because he was busy reading a file. Standing abnormally by the door, Tia wasn't sure if she should cough or stay silent and wait for him to notice. Thankfully, she was saved from any decision making when Brim Simbra looked up and finally noticed her presence.

"Tia! It's good to see you. Please take a seat." The slender alien greeted, getting up from the desk and gesturing her towards the small tea table. As the both sat a waitress came in and placed a tray that had a lovely set of china cups and teapot. Taking a sip, Tia couldn't help but let out a pleasant moan, the tea tasted of cream and honey.

"I must get some of this tea." The young adult commented, taking another sip of the delicious tea. The older alien laughed a little at Tia's remark before taking a sip of tea himself.

"The tea comes from my home world, which was sadly lost during the war." Brim Simbra sadly stated. Tia nodded in understanding. The planets that were near the explosion at the time were moved so far out of orbit that the atmosphere change dramatically, making most planets unstable to live on, including Brim Simbra's planet; which reportedly suffered the worst aftershocks. Scientist believed that if the explosion had been any closer to Akillian then the shifted orbit would have put the planet into an ice age. Tia felt sorry for those planets; they were left defenceless after the blast, making it easy for Bleylock to take over those worlds. "Shall we begin your training then?" The Flux society leader asked, determined to move on to a much lighter subject. Tia nodded in agreement and followed him to the mats that were placed near the small waterfall. Sitting down, Brim Simba crossed his legs into a mediation position, which Tia followed. Carefully, Tia followed every instruction that the white alien spoke: closing her eyes, relaxing her body and taking deep, slow breaths. "Now, feel for the energy inside you." Brim Simbra commanded. Tia wasn't really sure what he meant at first until she felt a blazing amount of energy that was bouncing all over the place.

"I found it." Tia whispered, feeling the energy zoom through every cell in her, like an wild animal trying to claw its way out of her body. Fear went through her entire body. How am I meant to control that? Tia thought, using all her courage to not run away from it.

"Now, use your mind to take a bit of it and pull it in and out." The old leader ordered. At first, Tia was scared to go anyway where near it but she forced herself to do what he said. Grabbing on to a bit of the ball of energy, she did what the wise alien said and began pulling the energy in and out. The supplementary times she did it the more confident she got and began to pull on more and more, until Simba told her to stop. Letting it go she saw the ball of energy had calmed down and stayed in its own ball. "Tia you're a natural." Brim Simbra smiled at her. "Now let's try it again."

Rocket patiently waited in the waiting room just outside Brim Simbra's office. He knew that she was safe but he still worried about her. It wasn't like he had any idea how to help her; she was probably the only person alive that had it. He stared at his watch to realise half an hour had gone by, how long will they be? Rocket wondered, as he continued to stare at the clock. Just as the thought came to him the doors to the office opened and Tia stepped out with a smile on her face. Rocket instantly jumped on to my feet and wrapped her into a hug.

"Are you alright?" He asked her (it seemed to be a question he asked her a lot since he met her) and kissed her gently on the cheek. Tia only let out a small laugh and lent back a bit so they could see each other's faces.

"I'm fine Rocket, it was actually quite easy." She smiled. Her boyfriend was glad that she had a happier glow to her. Wrapping an arm around her waist, Rocket attempted to guide her out of the building, until they had an unexpected run in with one of the last people they wanted to see in the universe.

"Tia, it's good to see you." Emperor Maddox smiled, ignoring Rocket's presence completely. Rockets grip on her waist grew a little bit tighter as he pulled her closer to him. When he was younger, Rocket and the lads used to be terrified by this powerful man but they soon learned from Sonny that this man was not worthy of his reputation. The young solider didn't move an inch under Maddox glare.

"Come on Tia. I promised Sonny I would have you home just before dinner." Rocket mumbled and led his lover past the overweight man with a big title. When they both got in to the car, both of them let out a sigh of relief to be out of the place. The looks that the Emperor of technoid had been given both of them sent chills down their spine. They rode in silence as he drove Tia home but he was glad the silence wasn't as tense as it had been on the way to the office. However, Rocket was worried by the news that Tia was about to be confronted with when she got home. He wished he could tell her now but he swore he would let Sonny reveal the truth to her when he had explained it to everyone else first. I hope she's ready for this? Rocket wondered when he stopped outside Blackbones house. As he helped Tia out of the car and sudden rush of emotions over came him, just as his beautiful angel opened her mouth to say goodbye, Rocket leaned in and gently placed his lips on hers. Tia was shocked by this sudden motion but who was she to complain; it was quite enjoyable. Sadly, all good things must come to an end and Rocket broke the kiss. A sad smile spread across Tia's face as she stepped on to her tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek, before walking back to the house. Once she had reached the porch, she turned around to see Rocket just starting up the engine of his car. She saw him look back at her and a small smile spread across his face. Sending a small wave, Tia watched her lover disappear down the street. A loud, happy sigh escaped Tia's mouth, as she made her way inside the house.

"Hello! Anybody home!" She called out, placing her shoes on the rack and began checking the rooms to see if anyone was in them- strangely enough most of the damage done to the place had been fixed.

"We're in the kitchen!" Sonny's voice echoed through the hall ways. Following the voice, Tia entered the kitchen to find the whole Blackbones family sitting around the table. The smile disappeared on her face as soon as she entered the room because the tension that came from it was enough to burn a hole through the sun. I wondered what happened? Tia thought as Sonny gestured to a seat beside Mary.

"Honey." Mary began, taking Tia's hand in hers and looked her straight in the eyes. It looked like she was going to say something but her mouth opened and close like a fish, unable to find the words, her adoptive mother handed her a large rolled up piece of paper instead. Tia found it a little weird but she opened it anyway and saw it was her family tree. Examining the contents of the paper, she winced when she realised she was related to Maddox (only through marriage and it was a distance cousin but it was still kind of creepy) then she notice the strange name near her mums – Sarah Garden. I have an aunt! Was the first thing Tia thought when she saw it? After a few minutes at looking at the diagram Tia gave up; unsure what she was meant to be looking at.

"Can someone please explain what I am supposed to be looking at?" Tia demanded frustrated, honestly why did people have to figure out stuff in this family instead of having them to actually tell them. Everyone looked at each other before Mary indicated to the name Sarah Garden.

"This is me." Mary point out to Tia. "I'm Sarah Garden and I'm your aunt." Tia was thankful she had been told to sit because she believed if she was standing then she would have fainted.

The beauty of the night sky gave Tia some piece of mind when she sat on the back porch. Mei and D'jok had left after the news had been said and promised to visit tomorrow and Sonny and Mary had kept their distance, knowing she needed some time to get her head wrapped around the piece of news she had just received. She just couldn't believe it, her long lost aunt just happens to be the same woman whose family had saved her and adopted her. Looking at the phone she held in her hand, she was tempted to call Rocket but after typing his number in for the tenth time, she chicken out and cancelled the call. Why can't anything be easy in my life? Tia thought slamming her head into her hands. It wasn't like she was mad or anything it was just all the information she had received was just too much.

"Hey, I brought you some pizza." Mary (or Sarah) smiled and sat down next to her with some hot, cheesy pizza on a plate. It was only now that Tia realised how hungry she was and gratefully took a slice of pizza from the plate that Mary offered. "Are we ok?" Her Aunt questioned, placing a calm and loving hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine just trying to take in the information." Tia smiled, placing one of her hands on top of Marys. Smiling at each other both women both began to eat their dinner. However, both of them didn't realise that Sonny was watching from the kitchen window with a big smile on his face.


	23. First Day

Chapter 23: First Day

Everything in the Blackbones house returned to normal when a few weeks past. It took Tia forever to get Rocket to stop apologising about not telling her in the first place but Tia understood that he was right to let Mary break the news since it was hers to break - though she didn't mind it when Rocket took her out to dinner and then gave her one of the best nights of her life afterwards. The only new things that had occurred in their family was when little Rosie started calling Tia 'Auntie' which was really sweet and D'jok and Mei had finally set a date for their wedding, with Mei making Tia the maid of honour. However, a new challenged faced Tia's life and that was collage. She had spent most of her time getting equipment that she would need. Finally the big day had arrived and Tia was trying to make herself calm, taking easy breathes. Rocket was not able to make it since he had to go to an important meeting this morning along with D'jok, Micro-Ice and Thran –who she had not had a chance to meet properly yet. So it was just Sonny with her today, driving her to her first day at college. Whoa! Tia thought, impressed by the amazing, glass roof building that glittered in the sunlight and the wide open grounds that had different vegetation, water fountains and picnic areas placed all around the canvas. The whole site was filled with all types of different people: scholars, jocks and cheerleaders, if you named it they were all there. How am I going to survive this? Tia wondered, she didn't really fit in her school when she was younger and this place looked the same; accepted they were all a little older. A huge lump started to form in her throat as old feelings began to resurface over her new confident self. The cracks must have been showing on her face because Sonny also noticed.

"Nervous about your first day of school." Sonny tried to joke with his recently discovered niece. Tearing her gaze away from the window, Tia could feel her cheeks turn red from embarrassment, thinking that she really needed to do better at hiding her emotions; especially if Sonny and Rocket were around. Instead of making up some excuse she just nodded her head and bit her numb tongue, so she wouldn't say anything stupid. It didn't take them long to reach the front of the school where everyone else was getting out of their cars and other vehicles. Opening the door, the cool autumn air whacked Tia full in the face. She could feel the nervousness and excitement that buzzed through the air for all the students starting a new semester at their college and new arrivals feeling of wonder of their new surroundings. "Got everything?" Sonny question popped out of nowhere, making Tia nearly jump out of her skin because she had only released that he was standing next to her – Sonny really needed to learn not to sneak up on people.

"Yeah and before you ask yes I do have the panic button attached to my watch." I pointed out before Sonny could ask. Smiling, Sonny patted Tia on the shoulder and popped back into the car. Lowering the window of the car, her uncle grinned.

"Have a nice day at school." He winked before driving off. She continued to wave goodbye to him until he disappeared around the corner. Turning around, she took a deep breath and made her way towards the main reception where all new comers were meant to go on their first day to go to assembly, were they would be introduce to everyone that was in charge. Working towards the building she saw many amusing sites (and even some scary) that made her fill a little more comfortable as she made her way towards the building. When she finally reached the reception area she saw a head of her over two hundred students waiting in the large waiting area. Some students were in groups, talking contentedly with other students while some shingle students hanged around in the dark corners; giving Tia a little comfort now that she saw she wasn't the only one that didn't know anyone at this college.

Man I have such a headache! Rocket cursed as he and the lads left the meeting. The man they had arrested for trying to kidnap Tia and threaten his mother at gun point was found shot dead this morning; they also received a video of the guys' wife being shot dead by terrorist. It was days like this Rocket really hated. Right now he just wanted to have Tia to be here with him and hold her in his arms for some comfort. However, Tia was starting her first day of college to day so he would just have to wait when he saw her tonight. Reaching his office he wished his mates luck on the paper work (they sometimes thought the paper work was more deadly than the actual missions) taking his seat he sat down and sighed at the amount of paperwork that had filled up on his desk. I really hate my jobs sometimes, he thought miserably, until his eyes rested on the newest addition of his photo collection of him and Tia sitting on the beach cuddling each other. Then he thought, maybe my job isn't so bad after all, he smiled, since he would have never met Tia if he hadn't agreed to that surveillance mission.

The assembly finally finished and Tia could feel herself trying to stiffen a yawned like everyone else in the hall. Taking the sheets of paper that had her timetable written on it (she and all the other students had been given when they were in the reception) she began searching for her first class and once she read the sheets and located the room number on the map, she made her way towards the science and technology block. After finding the room she was looking for, she quickly tapped on the door and walked in. The room was a medium size room and was decorated with rows of chairs and right at the far end of the class room was a big stage and board where the professor would teach the class. Am I really that early? Tia wondered, checking her watch and her schedule again. After double checking everything, Tia released she was fifteen minutes early to class. Well at least I won't be making bad first impressions, Tia mused to herself, walking around the class room to get a better look at the place. Just then one of the other doors near the stage opened and a small man carrying a pile of papers that were double his size. Before another thought could pass through Tia's head the old man tripped and everything went flying. Oh my! Tia thought, as she raced over to the stage to help him. The man was already on his hands and knees picking up the stray pieces of paper. Getting on her knees (once she reached the stage) she began picking up the papers and loose file, catching every now and again a complicated network of computer codes.

"Here you go." Tia smiled, passing her pile of papers to the professor, who then proceeded to put them on the table.

"Thank you young lady, I'm Professor Clamp." The short man with the messy head and wide glasses greeted, holding out his hand. Smiling, Tia took it and shook it firmly.

"Tia, I'm one of our new students." She responded, reading the facial expression on her teachers' face she knew she had made a good first impression.

"Welcome Tia, feel free to take whatever seat you like." The Professor grinned to her and gestured to the room of empty seats. Giving her thanks, Tia sat in the middle seats on the aisle where she could see the stage the best. It took another five minutes for all the other students to appear and take their seats. The class was quite large –with over thirty students. At the beginning of the lesson everyone was chatting to each other, while Tia just got out all her stuff and sat there quietly. When the lesson started everyone went still and listen intently to Professor Clamp, who had begun teaching the class.

Rocket opened and closed his hand again, as he tried to get rid of the stiffness out of his hand from writing so much. For five hour he had been writing out forms with the occasional break to get something to eat or chat to someone in the office so he could regain some of his sanity. Looking across the table he saw that he only had a few more to do. Focusing his attention on getting the last bits, Rocket quickly zoomed through his paper work. Just as he was finishing off the last piece of paper he heard a knock from the door. Please don't be the assistant with more paper work, Rocket prayed but when he looked up he was glad to see it was Sonny.

"Checking on all of us Sonny." Rocket smiled weakly, as he leant back in his chair to get a proper look at the old man.

"You kids know me to well." Sonny joked, checking his watch quickly before looking back up at Rocket.

"I also came to ask for a favour; Emperor Maddox has dragged me into a stupid meeting, can you pick up Tia from college for me?" He asked. Rocket was happy to oblige this request and after looking at his own watch, quickly jumped to his feet and grabbed his coat.

"I'll have her home around dinner time." He smiled while he left the laughing man at his office door. He quickly made his way to the car park and jumped into his car before racing out of the car park.

Overall, Tia thought her first day of college was really good, the only downside was the horrible food they served here but she had understood long ago that all schools were like that with their food. Everyone she had met had been really nice and she enjoyed her classes a great deal. Especially Film Studies, it felt good to hold a camera in her hands again, since her old camera had been the only thing her parents had brought her and she actually liked. Now it was the end of the day and everyone was making their way back home. She could not spot Sonny's black SUV, so she sat by the side of the water fountain and waited. Tia didn't mind waiting since she was enjoying the sunshine and the calming sounds of the water in the fountain.

"Who's that cute guy by the red land rover?" She heard one of the cheerleaders shout out next to her. Turning her head in their direction she saw the cute guy they had pointed out was none other than her boyfriend. He seemed to catch all the girls' eyes. Hearing that were about to try and chat him up she decided it was time for them to realises he was already taking. Sneaking past the girls and behind Rocket, she saw he was just about to call her when she jumped on to his back.

"Hello handsome." She smiled, as she placed a few kisses on the back of his neck. Taking one of her hands in his he kissed it gently, sending shivers down her spine. She couldn't believe that after all this time he still sent her nerves into over drive every time he kissed her. Getting off his back he turned around and brought her closer to him.

"You shouldn't jump up on my back like that, I almost flipped you." He smiled but there was still serious in his voice. His expression was totally sweet and she kissed him gently on the lips to show her apology.


	24. Strange Feelings

Chapter 24: Strange Feelings

Tia was enjoying every minute of college so far. She found the subjects she had taken interesting (especially photography) and she had made a few friends at her college. She was also in the top class with most of her classes and at the moment was trying to remain at the top by finishing off a report she needed to hand in tomorrow but was contently distracted by the sex god sitting behind her; kissing every inch if her body that he could get his smouldering lips on. Sighing deeply to herself, Tia closed the lap top and leant back against Rockets chest, joining her lips with his. If Rocket had his way, he would have had her stripped out of her clothes in seconds but knew that she had work to do so just settle for this small intermit more he shared with the woman he loved.

"Would you like to come to my parent's house for dinner this weekend?" He gasped between breaks. Waiting for a response, he could feel Tia mouth turn into a smirk as she continued to kiss him down his neck.

"Oh we're getting serious now." Tia teased, moving her hands slowly along his muscles, making Rocket let out a silent moan. Deciding she had been torturing him enough, Tia stopped what she was doing and began stroking her lovers face gently. "I would love to go." She smiled, earning a small kiss from Rocket. They continued enjoying each other company until Rocket phone started buzzing wildly. An annoyed groan from Rocket escaped his mouth as he checked is phone. Tia stomach dropped when she saw the depressed look drop on Rockets face.

"Sorry Tia I have to go. Work." He moaned as they both got off the floor. Tia wasn't happy that he had to leave either but she understood that he wouldn't leave if he didn't have to.

"I understand, maybe I'll be able to get my work done." She tried to joke which seemed to work a little bit since a small smile spread across his face. Taking his hand in hers, they stayed together until they reached his car where they were forced to separate.

"So, I'll pick you up at three this weekend." Rocket wolf grinned as he leant out of the car window. The hot energy flying between them made Tia go weak in the knees and she would have collapsed if Rocket didn't have his firm hands under her chin and pulled her into a deep kiss. She allowed herself to mould her mouth with his as she enjoy a few more moments of pleasure with him. Sadly, she had to let him go and watched as he drove away. Might as well get some work done? Tia thought to herself as she made her way back into the house, hoping she could distract herself for a little while.

If Rocket was being honest at the moment he would have said he had no idea what he was doing at this place late at night. The whole place was surrounded by crime scene tape, police officers and journalist trying to get the story on what had happened. As soon as he had arrived at the scene, Rocket was surrounded by writers trying to ask him questions such as, what was an army intelligence officer doing here? Did it have something to do with the government? Is this link to the war? He had to tear his way through the crowd to reach the detective in charge of the investigation and if he was being perfectly honest the investigator didn't look happy to see him either.

"As if I need some government operative working on my soil." Rocket heard the detective mutter coldly under his breath, just enough for Rocket to hear. Being in this job for almost four years Rocket was used to this type of behaviour so was not frazzled by it. The leader of the investigation led Rocket into the apartment building and up the elevator, nearly to the top floor. The police officer explained to Rocket what they knew so far. The neighbour next door had heard some kind of scream when she got home early from work and when she had gone upstairs to investigate she had heard a man's voice that she didn't recognise screaming at her neighbour. That's when she had called the police but despite the woman's best interest she had been too late. What Rocket saw when he entered the room shocked him to the core? The body that lay in front of him was a man Rocket had only known from a few office meetings and had a few more years of experience then him in the field. From what he could see this work colleague had been brutally torture, but for what? Rocket guessed he was called there to find out. "I don't know what you guys keep hidden..." The inspector began, taking a cigar out of his pocket and inhaled it deeply. "But it's got to be something pretty big." Rocket only nodded in agreement as he began to examine the room, checking for some kind of enemy entry point. He finally found it in the bathroom where the window had been smashed open. A sigh of relief accepted his throat. If the intruder had to forced himself into the apartment that meant less of a chance that the intruder was someone the victim knew; which also meant that it was less likely the murderer was someone inside intelligence. Examining the rest of the apartment he checked to see anything had been disturbed. Had the intruder been another spy and was looking for some kind of information and if so why publicly display his actions; none of it made any sense. As he made his way to the main room he saw the detective talking to a forensics.

"Any news?" Rocket asked, making his way over to the two men. The old law informant looked up at him quickly to see who had arrived, before his face turned into a frown. After a few moments of tension between them, the detective handed Rocket a crumpled up photo.

"This was found in the victim's mouth, it's always a woman." The old man cursed. Taking the piece of paper from the man, Rocket only had to take one look at it and his whole body to turn cold. His hand shock with rage as he almost crumpled up the paper again. It was a clear sign towards him and everyone else that had swore to protected her. It was a picture of Tia in her wedding dress with a blood smeared message; she is mine!

For some reason Tia was having some problem sleeping that night. She didn't know why, she had gone through everything through her head. It wasn't her project, she had finished that ages ago (triple check it and everything) she had done her chores around the house –Mary said she didn't need to but Tia insisted- plus, she had even for a jog around the block with Sonny to burn off the negative energy but still she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Frustrated, she kicked the bed sheets off her and made her way to Sonny's office. She knew he would still be up since she heard Mary complaining about not getting some alone time with her husband in her own bed. Tia had tried not to make the situation worse by holding back her laughter when she saw the evil glares Mary was sending her husband, she knew it was just an act to make Sonny feel guilty and make him come to bed that night. Thinking of Sonny and Mary relationship made Tia think if she could have a relationship like they had. It was scary how they brought out the worst in each other and the best, her thoughts slowly turned to Rocket and wondered if their relationship would evolve into something like that. She was in such deep thought that she almost walked by the office door but the light in the door blinded her and made her stop. Gently, knocking on the door, she waited until she heard Sonny welcome her in.

"Tia! What are you doing up this late?" Sonny question partly surprised. Tia smiled sweetly, as she sat on the couch on the other side of the room that faced the book self-which she guessed hid more secret weapons.

"Just couldn't sleep, I have this strange feeling that there's something wrong." Tia answered, as she snuggled into the couch.

"I knew we shouldn't have watched that Star Wars movie." Sonny joked, earning a pillow to be snatched from the couch and aimed at his head. "I was only pointing out a fact." Sonny pleaded, holding his hands up in surrender. Tia just giggled at Sonny childish antics.

"So, what are you doing?" Tia asked, catching the pillow that Sonny threw back at her and cuddling into it**.** Her uncle just sighed and learnt back in his office chair, looking at a file that looked familiar to her somehow.

"Trying to make sense of this file, I can't understand a single word its saying." Sonny cursed, throwing the folder on to the desk as he rubbed his tired eyes. In his moment of distraction, Sonny had not notice Tia approach the desk and had began flipping through the pages.

"Weaknesses are in the front of the tank in the lower sector... I don't see what's so hard to understand about that." Tia listed, as she continued to read through the pages. She now recognised where the file came from, it was the file she had stolen from Jonathan's desk. Cold shivers ran across her skin at the thought of her husband; well, ex husband now. Looking back up, Tia was surprised to find Sonny staring back at her with a shocked expression on his face. "What?" Tia questioned, not sure if she had just said something totally stupid or incredibly intelligent.

"You can translate that!" Sonny asked, pointing at the folder in her hands. The words that came out of Sonny's mouth confused her a bit until she figured it out. The wasn't written in Akillian it was written in Ancient Shadow, something she was forced to learn (being a diplomatic daughter) along with every other langue that was known in the galaxy. Honestly, her tutors –mum and dad- had done a good job since she was able to read any book in the galaxy without needing it translated; in fact it had become second nature to her, so she had not realised at the time she was reading an entirely different langue.

"Yeah, my parents pretty much drilled this stuff into me ever since I was born, why?" Tia enquired, not sure saw why Sonny was so shocked by her speaking ability. Surely he must have known that with coming from a diplomatic family and into another one. But, then again, Tia tried to keep the idea of the subject of her family to a minimise amount.

"Tia! Do you realise what this means?" Sonny asked her but seeing the dumbfound expression on her face; he could see that she had no clue. "Tia, you and Brim Simbra are the only people who know had to speak different langues fluently, this puts you in even more danger."

The last words that Sonny said haunted the back of Tia's mind for the rest of the week. In more danger... how could I possibly be in anymore danger? Tia thought angrily to herself, as she got herself ready to meet Rockets parents- as he official girlfriend now. Sonny had made her promise... no! Swear on Rocket's life that she would never reveal what she could do to anyone, which Tia didn't understand. If it was true then she could reliable to the resistance and translate secret messages, plus, she didn't understand why there weren't any people to do that job in the first place. There must be some people out there that could translate coded files like the one she had down last night. In the end she couldn't figure it out and decided to question Mei about it later. What made everything worse was that Rocket was acting strange as well? Lately, he had been spending more time at work and when he were together his thoughts seemed to be preoccupied or shot worried glances when he thought she wasn't looking from time to time. She had tried everything thing to try and get him to open up to her; hell! She has even tried to seduce him. Sadly, Rocket was not one of the Allies top intelligence operatives for nothing and had been able to turn some of her own bed tricks against her. It frustrated her to no end and it made her want to grab something and beat it to oblivion. Her lovely day dream was distracted when she heard Mary shout up to her to say Rocket was there. He's here already! Tia thought, checking her clock. She had been so busy with her thoughts that she hadn't had the opportunity to blow dry her hair and now it had gone all wavy. Sighing heavily to herself, she decided that it didn't look that bad and grabbed her bag and hurried down stairs. She would been lying if her heart didn't skip a beat when she saw him leaning against the door frame, with his usual loose white shirt and casual jeans, but it didn't stop her wanting to beat him with a stick either. At the moment, he was talking to Sonny about something in hush tones but when they heard her approach they both looked up. Her eyes were now fast enough to catch the small quick breath Rocket made when his eyes landed on her (making her inwardly smile) before the neutral expression replaced it. Since they day was hot, she picked out a white dress that just flowed above her knees with a low cut to show a bit of cleavage and a brown belt around the middle.

"Hi." Rocket smiled sweetly at her. Unable to find any other words at that moment. Since she was not sure if she should be in love with him right now or mad at him, Tia remained silent, only placing a kiss on his cheek. She guessed the two men had noticed her silent behaviour, since they both gave each other a quick funny look. Now, Tia wasn't sure if going to her boyfriend's parent's house to meet the family as his girlfriend for the first time was not the greatest idea after all.


	25. Interruptions from Family Members

Chapter 25: Interruptions from Family Members

Rocket was afraid to ask his girlfriend what was going on. He had to admit that there had been tension between them lately but what had seen at his former co-workers house had terrified him to the core. So he had kept it a secret (even from Sonny) but now he was starting to have second doubts about his decision. As usual, Tia seemed to pick up on what he was feeling and had not liked the fact he was keeping something from her. Now his girlfriend was in a huff with him and there was nothing he could do about it. Well... unless, he told her the truth that is but that was just scare the shit out of her. He could only pray that it went ok today. But to be on the safe side, he decided that he needed to clean the air out a bit before they saw his family. He parked the car in front of the house and opened the door for his girlfriend.

"Are you ok?" He questioned, leaning against the doorframe. Tia gave him the 'you know why I'm like this' look before jumping out of the car and heading towards his house but Rocket reached out and pulled her back gently to him. "Come on talk to me." He pleaded with his lover, stroking the soft skin around her cheek so she was forced to look up at him and into his honest golden eyes. She gave him an annoyed pout before rolling her eyes.

"You've been keeping secrets from me and I don't like it." She stated firmly, folding her arms in front of her chest. However, this didn't stop Rocket leaning forward and putting his lips on hers. For a few seconds, she was un-willing to co-operate, but after he teased her by tickling her lips with his tongue, she fell into his trance and was happy to be taken away into heaven for a while. The kiss stopped when Tia lightly smacked him on the arm. "You're trying to change the subject." She tried to tell him off but she had a large smile on her face that gave away that she wasn't entirely upset with him.

"Oh man, I thought I almost got away with it." Rocket joked, earning him other slap on the arm from his girlfriend. "You look so cute when you're angry." He continued to tease. Just as she was about to hit him again, he grabbed her wrist.

"Just be honest with me Rocket, please." She begged, her beautiful emerald eyes secretly beseeched him, making the mood turn serious again.

"You know I'll do anything to protect you right."He asked her, his girlfriend seemed a bit shocked by this question but she nodded anyway. "Then I just need you to trust me." Knowing that she wasn't going to get anymore out of him today, so only rolled her head and nodded again. Rocket sighed with relief, recognising that Tia was in a better mood then before. Taking a risked he leaned in again and kissed her on the lips. He could feel her mouth turn into a smile as she moulded her lips with his. They both wrapped their arms around each other and deepened the kiss.

"Are you two going to come in or are you just going to keep kissing!" Jamie voice shouted out of nowhere, forcing the two lovers to jump a metre apart. Rocket just shot a dark glare at the door way but the boy had already disappeared. Despite being embarrassed, Tia couldn't help but laugh. Rocket only shook his head, as he grabbed Tia's hand and led her to the house. Tia thought the whole place was strangely deserted, until Rocket led her all the way to the back and to the garden. If it wasn't for Tia lessons in politics, everyone would have seen her jaw dropped off, fall on to the floor and then bounce back up and hit her in the face. The garden was beautiful; nearly every inch of it was decorated in different flowers that showed every colour of the rainbow. She knew Rocket's parents were florists but to work in their shop and look after this garden was an achievement that everyone should bow done to. Instantly, she was greeted by all of Rocket's family (including Samantha's and Hayley's puppy, who they had named, Bolt after their favourite Disney dog) who she had met at the game, greeting her with hugs or handshakes. The people that didn't know her stayed around the table with their drinks but as soon as she was done greeting his family she was introduced to everyone else. Most of them were footballers from the old Akillian football team and some of their kids - one of footballers brought their new grandchild along. She sat down on the comfortable garden couch on the patio with Rocket sitting next to her. At first she wasn't sure how to react because she didn't know what was appropriate in front of Rockets family but the calming presences from Rocket's hand on her back helped her to relax into his embrace. Everyone was very nice and there was no weird silences since everyone had something to talk about.

"Yeah, the kid keeps me awake all night but I love him to bits." James smiled, as he cuddled his newborn son closer to his chest. Everyone made a few 'aw' noises (well the woman did anyway) and smiled at the happy couple that admired their son. "Yep, the old mans gonna teach him everything he knows about football to this little rascal, just you wait, he'll be the next football champion." The man smiled, as everyone laughed at the man's ambitions for his son.

"Remember Will, football's a team sport." Aarch quickly pointed out, he was a man that believed in team work and fair play, something he had drill into his nephew, his son and anyone he had coached. Some people cheered out their agreements to his statement. Tia just sat there with a laughing smile on her face as she dug into another cheese burger. Norata – the chef- was an excellent cook; every now and again she would sneak some food to Bolt.

"So Tia, how's college?" Keira asked, ever since she got her, Rocket's mother had been digging more and more information out of her. If Tia didn't know any better then she could sense the older woman had already begun planning the flower arrangements for the wedding in her head already. Quickly, Tia chewed the rest of her burger before answering.

"Oh I love it, all my classes are very interesting but sometimes I just want to burn the amount of work load I get sometimes." Tia replied, making everyone that heard laugh. If a normal person looked at the amount of homework Tia received they would say it was a reasonable load but Tia was always busy fiddling with her camera, hanging out with the family or was busy with Rocket. Her boyfriend seemed to sense her last thought and began to massage the side of her thigh. Realising what he was up to, Tia shot him a quick glare, only to receive a smug look from him.

"Your gardens very beautiful, how do you manage to find the time to look after the green house and the garden?" Tia questioned, trying to turn her attention back to the party –but she was finding it quite difficult with Rocket secretly, sexually harassing her and there was nothing she could do unless she wanted the whole family to see. Like a good diplomatic, Tia listened to the woman's story about how her and her husband plan out their day and how they looked after plants. Most of it was quite boring if Tia was being honest but she could see all the hard work she and her husband put into their business and some bits were interesting. However, their conversation was cut short when Tia felt a drip of water on her nose, as soon as she looked up; rain began to pour down over everyone's head, forcing them to run for cover into the house –so much for weather reports. They were only a few seconds away from the door but since it was big company a lot of people couldn't get inside all at once, so when Tia entered the household she was drenched. Keira was next to her in seconds and ushered her up the stairs before anyone could see them disappear. She pushed her into one of the closets rooms. She found herself striped out of her clothes and were given some new ones. That's when the old woman finally left her alone to get changed. Tia was surprised to find the clothes fitted probably but decided not to question it. The woman had given her a pair of light blue leggings and a long yellow t-shirt that went past her bum. Rocket's mother had also left her a comb and a towel to dry her hair with. Taking her time she examined the room around her. She instantly knew it was Rocket's room just by a quick glimpse of it. There were football posters of his uncle and father above his bed, some books on the shelf with a football trophy and a dusty old wooden desk with a photo frame on it. Picking it up, Tia sure it was a much younger Rocket along with everyone else, taking a team photo with himself, D'jok and Micro-Ice in the middle holding the trophy up. She sat on the well made bed to get a better look at it.

"Hope you like the picture." Rocket commented, as he leant against the door frame. She looked up to see a sweet smile on his face and she smiled back at him. Placing the photo back on the desk she beckon Rocket to come closer.

"You have a nice room." Tia teased as she kneeled on Rockets old bed. Rocket recognised the mischievous glint that played in her eyes, as she grabbed his shirt and dragged him towards her. Brushing her mouth gently against his lips, Rocket could feel himself getting horny by the feel of her breathe against his skin. Deciding to get a little pay back, her man slipped his arms around her and slid his hands downwards until they reached her butt. He smiled when he heard her gasp as he began stroking her fleshy piece of skin. Placing his lips at the corner of her mouth, he began tenderly kissing along her jaw line and down her neck. Letting out a pleasurable moan, Tia arched her back and let her head hang back, so he would have better room to taste her skin. Her hands somehow made it around his neck and started messing around in his hair. The woman could feel her boyfriend smirking against her neck but she didn't really care, she was feeling too good right now to care who was in charge. That is until someone made a loud gasp at Rocket's door, making the couple jump apart and looked to see one of the twins standing at the door with her jaw dropped opening.

"Samantha!" Rocket cried out angrily, making both Tia and Samantha jump, since it was very rare to see one of the people they looked up to the most get mad.

"Auntie Keira wanted me to tell you that desert was ready." She quickly blurted out, as she stood there, not sure what to do. Seeing that he had scared his younger cousin, Rocket tool a few deep breathes before he was able to calm himself.

"Tell her we'll be down in a second and don't tell anyone about this." Rocket ordered, which Samantha was happy to follow; as long as it got her out of there.

"Don't you think you were being a little harsh?" Tia questioned, with her hands on her hips and a 'telling off' frown on her face.

"Can you blame me? Every time we try to kiss we get interrupted by one of my cousins!" He couldn't help but burst out; what could he do he was sexually frustrated? Tia could only roll her eyes and hold back the laughter that she was tempted to let out large but she didn't want to insult her boyfriend and make him even more upset.

"It could have been worse." She offered, trying to lighten up the situation.

"Like what?" Rocket snorted, unable to think of this situation getting any worse. Tia thought deeply as she also tried to think the same thing.

"Well." She began, pondering a bit more to weigh her options out. "It could have been your mum?"


	26. Taken

Chapter 26: Taken

Despite the lesson that Professor Clamp was teaching was quite an interesting one, Tia was tired. She had not slept properly for the past couple of days ever since she had that one dream. Despite dreaming it many times now she could never remember what they were about, all she knew about them was that she would wake up scared out of her wits. Dame Simbai had a look over her and tried to find remedies to help her sleep but nothing worked. She only felt better when Rocket was with her but he couldn't sleep over all the time; he had a job to go to and that had been keeping him more than busy for the past couple of weeks. In all fairness it seemed like Tia wasn't the only one that was going to collapse any second. The professor didn't seem so well himself, he kept stumbling over his words and swiping cold sweat off his forehead. It seemed a relief to everyone when the last bell went and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Tia was the last to get out of the class, since all her body functions were moving slower compared to the average human being. Halfway down the hall she received a text from Sonny saying he was stuck in traffic and that he would be late. Sighing heavily to herself, Tia proceeded to the courtyard at a much slower pace, glad that she didn't need to rush or anything. She must have been moving much slower than expected because by the time she reached the outside nearly everyone was already gone. Not caring if anyone saw her or not, the college student slumped down near the fountain and kicking off her shoes dumped them in the cold water. A pleasant shiver when down her back as her hard feet soon relaxed in the chilling water. There was nothing she could do but watch as other students left the campus. Soon she was the only one left. Taking a deep breath from the fresh air around her, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the small freedom she had been given. She had almost fallen asleep when someone grabbed her by the back of the head and threw her on to the ground. Her face hit the concrete floor first and a burst of pain explored from her forehead. The impact was so hard that her eye sight lost focus and she thought she had been knocked unconscious until she was kicked in the stomach, rolling her on to her back. After her head had stopped spinning around she finally managed to regain focus; she wished she hadn't. Standing above her was the monster who haunted her nightmares – Jonathan. Her eyes widen in fear and she tried to get up and run away but her late husband grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her up to his face. His once handsome face was now half destroyed by a burnt make that had destroyed half his skin. Instinct took over as she kicked hard at his knee, sending him falling to the ground. Ignoring the dizzy sick feeling in her head, Tia forced herself back up, only for her late husband to grab her ankle. She tried to pull her leg free but his grip was to strong, in a panic she kicked back hitting what she assumed was the face but didn't take a risk at looking behind her. She just ran, ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She burst through the front of the entrance of the college, screaming at the top of her lungs for help but it seemed as if everyone had disappeared. The phones! Tia cried out to herself, as she ran over to the receptionist desk, only to find out when she put her phone to her ear the line was dead. She looked back outside and saw Jonathan coming back towards her. Quickly she grabbed one of the cleaning mops and pushed it through the handles to jam the door. The glitter of the light caught in her interest when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was a watch. Of course, Tia thought as she turned it to the side and pressed the button. Angriy thumping suddenly caught her attention again and she look up to see her husband banging on the glass door, trying to get inside. Panic over took her again and she ran. Biting her tongue, she tried to stop herself thinking of the amount of blood she was losing through her head wound and began searching the class rooms to see if any of the teachers had stayed behind. She was having no luck until she reached her own classroom and looked inside to see Professor Clamp working at his desk.

"Professor!" Tia cried out from the other side of the room, making him look up and see the young terrified woman running towards him, clearly injured since the was blood pouring down the side of her head and dried on her clothes.

"Tia, what the hell happen to you?" The old man cried out once the girl had stumbled on to the stage of the room. She found it impossible to speak at first since she was too busy choking on her tears to make any sense.

"He's... he's here, he's after me!" Tia cried out, as she stuttered through the tears. The poor man didn't know what to do, never in his life had he comforted a crying girl. He did try his best though, directing her to his seat and rubbing her on the back like he had seen other people do when someone was in distress.

"Who's after you Tia?" Professor Clamp questioned, trying to make of what the hell was going on. Nevertheless, he wished he would have never asked when he suddenly felt a chilling presence behind him.

"That would be me my friend." Jonathan's cold voice echo through the room. Tia didn't have time to react when Clamp was thrown half way across the room.

"Professor!" Tia cried out as she tried to get to him but she suddenly found her husband's hands on her back again and slammed her down on to the table. Her already cracked open skull was being forced open even wider as the monster continued to slam her face repeatedly against the oak table. She tried to claw at his face and beat him with her hands but her fists only seemed to punch air as she aim wildly. I'm going to die! She suddenly thought, as the memories of everyone she loved began to flash before her eyes; the last one was Rocket. Rocket! She though as memories of her and him together, every kiss they shared, every touch the sparked heat waves across her skin but what mattered to her most was the way he looked at her, it was like her very presence could cure all diseases and make the most miserable man smile. To him she was the most important thing in the world and these thoughts gave her the courage to not be afraid. She loved him, she really loved him and yet she had never said it to his face. That's when she knew she was going to live, maybe not long but she knew she was going to live long enough to tell him she loved him, that to her she was the pure light that existed in her miserable existence.

"Jonathan! Stop!" A sleek voice commanded out of nowhere. To Tia's surprise he did what he was told and stopped but instead held her mid air by the hair so her head just felt like it was hanging from a hook. Opening her eyes all she could see was red. She could hear her husband giving some kind of disgusted laugh behind her before he let her collapse on to the floor. "Remember what I said Jonathan, we need her alive." The very sound of the new man's voice and a part of her was glad she couldn't hear what was going on; she kept falling in and out of conscience. Not to mention her head was banging making it hard to concrete on anything. The feeling of cold metal wrapped around her arms and lifted her up. She wasn't sure where she was going or that she even wanted to go but despite herself she could not move a single muscle to fight back. The last thing she heard before she feel in the darkness completely was someone familiar calling her name.

It was a good thing that Sonny had a large car otherwise Rocket wouldn't have been able to fit his legs in. He couldn't help but laugh to himself on some of his teams past missions when they had been forced to steal a car and it would way to small for him to fit in. Though his day couldn't be much worse, first his alarm o'clock hadn't gone off and was late for work, as a punishment for being late, Sonny had given him double the amount of paperwork to do (Sonny's way of getting rid of some of his own) and third, his car refused to started so he had to get a ride with D'jok and his father. What annoyed him the most was that he was ten minutes away from his angel and they were late picking her up because of the traffic? The trip towards their destination was no trip to the park as well, since the two grown men had been acting like young teenagers and had picked on Rocket the whole time they had been in the car; he was used to it from D'jok but from Sonny it was just downright humiliating. At the moment they had stopped because a song both the men liked was playing on the radio and even though Rocket wasn't a big fan of the type of music itself it did give him a time of piece. However, the song was soon cut short when the radio suddenly began to scramble and a voice on the speaker was trying to get hold of D'jok. With an annoyed sigh his old friend picked it up and answered.

"Sergeant D'jok here, over." The higher officer spoke into it, letting go of the receiver button go and waited for the reply.

"Sir we received a call for University from a witness saying someone with your cousin's description was being attacked outside the front entrance, what are our orders sir!" The speaker's voice echoed through the car. Every single man in the car didn't dare move or breath. They should have been heading off to the university like a heat seeking missile but all of the men were in shock. It was only a few seconds later that there beeping on Sonny's watch activate, snapping through the dreaded silence. Sonny swore as he slapped his police light onto the stop of his car and slammed onto the pavement, speeding off past the other cars. While, Sonny was in grand theft auto mode, D'jok was shouting orders down the receiver, requesting permission for back up, while in the back seat, Rocket was loading his gun and preparing himself. When the car reached the front of the college, Rocket didn't even wait for the car to stop completely as he jumped out of the back and started running down the path towards the entrance of the school.

"Tia!" Rocket cried out hoping for a response but received no response from his girlfriend. Damn it, he thought, as he continued towards the front of the building. Running past the fountain, his mind only gave a quick though to the red substance that lay on the ground close to the water fountain and burst through the doors of the academy. "Tia! Tia where are you?" he cried out again when he still saw no sign of her, quickly running along the hallway and began searching the rooms. By this time, Sonny and D'jok had finally made it into the building and began searching the other class rooms as well. The sound of a woman's scream was what finally led them in to the direction of the double doors ahead, ignoring all of the others doors that existed down this hallway, ran straight to the end of the corridor. With a strong and well aimed kick to the centre of the door, Rocket kicked the door open and ran in. His eyes landed directly on his angel of was being carried away by his worst night mare; her ex-husband. Plus, another man old small man that Rocket had never seen before "Tia!" he screamed once again, which made the man in the room finally look up and noticed him for the first time and also to find out that General Bleylock was standing only a few feet from him.

"Fire!" The man commander and his robots began to shot energy bullets in his direction. Finally realising the full extent of danger he was in, Rocket dived out of the way of fire but was not quick enough to avoid all damage as a beam of energy hit him in the shoulder. He cried out as he hit the ground and stayed low as rains of fire shit past his head. Thankfully, reinforcements arrived as D'jok and Sonny started firing their own guns. Gritting his teeth, Rocket got out his own gun and started firing. It took them only a few moments to get rid of the robots and for back up to arrive but they were already too late. Tia and the other captive were gone.


	27. Lines are drawn

Chapter 27: Lines are drawn

The whole student campsite was flooded by police men and army agents, yellow tape surround the courtyard with a line of officers placed outside it, keeping the journalists and the nosy people away from the crime scene to stop them getting any information. However, they couldn't hide the fact that something big was going on with the amount of emergency vehicles surrounding the area and also out in the city trying to catch the evil people behind this tragedy. It seemed that the weather was reflecting Rockets feelings, since dark clouds hang over the area, threatening to start shooting fiery shots of thunder bolts any second. He was directing officers around the place and barked angrily if his command wasn't followed a second later. If he had his way, Rocket would have been out there on the streets looking for her and tearing every single car and building he found into pieces. Unluckily, the bullet to his shoulder had been pretty bad so he had to sit at the back of an ambulance getting his arm stitched up and overseeing the workforces here –Sonny refused to let him doing anything else until his arm had been bandaged up. To Rocket's annoyance it was taken the medic a pretty long time to clean and stitch up his wounds. The sound of a SUV, caught the soldiers attention and looked up to see Sonny had returned. In an instant his heart stopped beating, as he waited for the characters to get out the car with his Tia all safe in sound. But only two people who got out of the van were his to commanders with grim expressions on their faces.

"What are you guys doing here? You should be out looking for Tia!" Rocket shouted at the two, making the paramedic jump out of fright and accidently stabbed him in the arm with the needle he was using to sow up the wound. The soldier had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from bursting out a cry of pain. D'jok shot his friend an irritated look but didn't say anything because he knew if it had been Rosie or Mei that were kidnapped he would be the same way. Sonny didn't seem to have any emotion on his face which meant he was tied up in full commander mode.

"We've been requested back at headquarters." Was all Sonny said. Everyone in the area seemed to suddenly take a large step back as they could feel the murderous intent that was heating up from Rocket's body; the paramedic quickly made a run for it after he hastily secured the thread.

"How can you say that? We should be out their searching, not going to meetings!" The young lieutenant snapped back at his senior officer, his emotions over driving his intelligence right now. Not use to Rocket's explosive behaviour, D'jok and Sonny could not help but be shocked at this kind of behaviour but forced themselves to recover from it quickly – they had more things to worry about.

"I don't like it either Rocket but we've got to go or so help me I will knock you out and drag you there myself." The commander yelled, not moving his eyes away from the junior figure before him. You could see the sparks flying from his mouth as Rocket grinded his teeth together. His leader didn't give him another option as the old man turned and made his way towards the doors of the car, quickly followed by his son. Right now, the man just wanted to grab Sonny's car and crush it between his hands (with the anger that was in him now it was possible that something like that could actually happen) but knew he had to do what he was told for now. He stomped over to the car and jumped into the back seat and slammed the door as hard as he could behind him. After the door closed and the door vibrated from the intense strength that had gone behind the door closing, Sonny turned around to him and glare at the young man with a face of thunder because of what Rocket did to his car. There were three things you had to remember to not piss Sonny off, first of all you did not harm his family, second would be you did not steal the last piece of his favourite blueberry and apple pie leftover in the fridge and finally... you did not damage his car unless you wanted to die. Usually, Rocket would be terrified (a part of him still was) but he was too annoyed to let the effect control him completely. Knowing how the boy felt about his niece, Sonny decided to let the little temper tantrum slide for not but after this was all over he was so getting his own pay back; big time. Putting his gear into reverse, Sonny drove out of the space and shifted forward to the main road, where it would be the quickest to get back to head quarters. The young soldier had to bite the inside of his cheek until he tasted copper on his tongue so he wouldn't shout at Sonny to faster –even though he was travelling sixty miles an hour in a forty mile zone- and kick the chair or something; otherwise Sonny would actually kill him. His thoughts turned to Tia and how scared she must be now. Sure, she was tough but his lover was in the hands of Jonathan, the sickest bastard in the universe. Just hang in their Tia, he thought, sending his love to her even though he would never know if she could feel it or not. The scene from the battle in the university classroom shot up in his mind again as he remembered his beloved in the arms of the cold hearted robot and the blood that dripped from her face. His hands began to clench and un-clench at the very thought of what that sick, twisted demon did to her. He was going to make sure the bastard pay for it – slowly and painfully. However, his thoughts of vengeance were put on hold when a sudden force like a bulldozer running at full speed crashed into the side of the car. The car bounced and rolled over a dozen times until it slammed on to the pavement and into the side of an office wall. Rocket vision suddenly became blurry and he his ears had a high pitch sound bouncing around in his brain. He wasn't sure how badly injure he was or even take in completely what had happened but all he could hear clearly, Sonny yelling at his son to wake up. D'jok! Rocket panicked and his eyes regained full focus around him. They were still hanging upside down only to be held up right by the seat belts. A grunt of pain escaped Rocket's mouth as he felt his left arm begin to burn with pain and his leg felt sore. Undoing his seat belt, Rocket gracefully landed on to the roof the car ignoring the screaming agony that was coming from his ankle. Now that he was leaning up right and the blood was draining away from his brain, he could hear Sonny shouting into the receiver and calling for medical support. He tried to get to the front so he could see if there was anything he could do but then his passage side window smashed inward, exploring glass flying into his face and two gloved hands reached in and grabbed him. He was too surprised to react back fast enough and couldn't grab anything as he was dragged out of the window. Sonny was shouting out for him but it didn't help, as Rocket started kicking at the men who had taken him. But with one arm out of commission and one of his legs damaged he couldn't fight back as well as he usually and quickly had his hands secured behind his back and his head pushed firmly into the ground. To stop his face from being squished in to the hard concrete pavement, Rocket had to turn his face towards the car, so he could see Sonny still struggling inside the car; completely trapped. His vision of his comrades was blocked suddenly a heavy boot stepped in front of his vision.

"Hello Goldie, long time, no see." The voice hissed dangerously at him. All at once his boy tense and the anger that had once burned inside his body before explored back into existence.

"Jonathan!" Rocket spat, turning his face a little to get a good look at the person he was going to kill as soon as his arms were free. He was shocked to find that half of his face had been burnt off and his mind flickered back to a couple of weeks ago when Tia fully explained how she escaped her husband's wrath – Tia might have been upset by the pain she caused him but Rocket was glad she had left a mark. The ex now reminded Rocket of the Batman villain two-faced but thankfully he had not gone so extreme with the whole different half suits and hair styles.

"Good you remembered me." He smiled happily as he pointed a gun at Rocket's face. The lieutenant made sure he didn't flinch; he wasn't going to let Jonathan think he was scared of him. "Now I get to finish you off." The villain smiled gleefully as he pulled the safe back and place a tighter grip on his finger. Memories of Rocket's life began to flash before his eyes, it wasn't the first time he had experienced something like this, he had been in close situations before and he always saw the same childhood images but this time other additions had been added to the quick slide show and the most of all were ones filled with his precious Tia. When all seemed loss, the sudden screeching of car tyres from behind Rocket and men ordering other men around, made Jonathan relax his hand from Rocket's face and look up. Calvary had arrived as he heard gun shots being fired. Aiming his gun at the new additions Jonathan began shouting. With all the commotion, the guards holding Rocket down had loosen the grip on his back, enabling him to let his arm free and grab his gun that was still strapped to his side – they had not bothered to take it from him yet- and shot the man that was kneeling on top of him in the leg. The agent rolled over, grabbing on to his sore leg, allowing Rocket to twist around and fire at the other soldier who had been holding him down. He turned to point his gun at Jonathan, only to find he had disappeared and the only people who were left were the agents he had left behind. Getting up from his feet, Rocket forced himself to ignore the pain again and forced his way to the reinforcements, only for his mouth to drop open in surprise. The enemy soldiers were getting their asses given to them by Mei and Mary, who were standing together in an untied front. It had been a long time he had seen his sergeant in full action again and was shocked to see she could move just as well as she could back in the day. Not to mention Mei was also showing off some impressive combat moves. Shaking his mind free, he aimed and shot at the other soldiers who were still standing. For what seemed like forever (but was actually a few minutes) the three fighters were able to cut down the reminding forces and force those who knew it was hopeless in to surrender. Once the enemies were tied up, both woman ran to the car and dropped to their knees, not thinking about the spare glass and pieces that were scattered around the area.

"D'jok!" Mei questioned worriedly, as she stroked the side of his face and patted him gently as she tried to wake him up. With Rocket's additional help, they managed to get D'jok safely out of the car while Mary helped Sonny. As gently as they could, the friend and his fiancé moved the wounded soldier away from the car and placed him on the floor. With her husband leaning on her shoulder, mother and father kneel beside their son, while Mei had placed her lovers head on her lap. "D'jok please wake up." She whispered, making Rocket's heart twist at how she must be feeling right now. Thankfully, luck smiled down upon them all of a sudden when the red heads eyes began to flutter opened, making everyone laugh out loud with happiness. His face went completely blank when his sharp green eyes caught hold of his fiancée staring down at him.

"Mei?" He cried out as he tried to sit up but stopped when he suddenly gasped out in pain and placed his hand over his chest. Immediately, Mei began shushing him and stroked his hair to comfort him, as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

For the second time that day, Rocket was forced to sit down and listen to a doctor tell him what was wrong with him; as if a gunshot wound to the arm wasn't enough. Now he had to pay attention to what his doctor was saying and why he needed to get plenty of bed rest for the next couple of weeks to heal his torn arm and leg muscles. The thing is though he didn't have a week to sit around and do nothing. He had to find Tia! Fortunately, he had made a quick call ahead to Micro-ice to pick up some of necessary items he would need, so he could so nothing now and sit down and wait. However, the long lecture he was getting was interrupted by one of the nurses.

"Sorry doctor but there's a called waiting for Mr – sir!" The nurse said softly. The doctor gave him a warning look that said 'I'd be back' as he allowed the nurse to hand Rocket the phone.

"Hello." Rocket answered after he had waited for the nurse and doctor to exit the room – he didn't want to say anything in front of them if it was Micro-Ice asking his preference over a shot gun or semi automatic.

"Hello Goldie." The chilling voice echoed down the phone, making Rocket's body tense instantaneously. His hand shock in rage and it seemed the phone would snap any second it he gripped it any tighter.

"Where are you so I can come and kill you right now?" Rocket swore down the phone, since all he could think about right now was crushing the monsters neck with his own hands – the soft chuckle down the end of the phone did not help to lighter Rockets spirits either.

"Patience my good friend patience." Jonathan teased down the other end of the phone. "We will meet, eight o'clock but the fourth pier and you will come alone or you will never see Tia again." He hung up. Breathing deeply, Rocket placed the phone on the bedside table and began planning but his thoughts were interrupted halfway through when a knock from the door caught his attention.

"I couldn't decide it I should have got you the automatic or shot gun, so I brought both." Micro-ice shrugged as he tossed the bag on the side of the table. A cruel smile -that scared the hell out of Micro-Ice- creped on to Rocket's face as he thought of all the amazing damages he could do with it.


	28. Showdown

Chapter 28: Showdown

Micro-Ice had known Rocket for many years (since nursery if being particularly precise) but never in his whole life had he ever seen Rocket so… pissed of motivated. As they both stood in his room helping him load his weapons for reasons the small soldier had not been informed on yet, Micro-Ice couldn't help but feel a little scared. They way his long term friend tested his gun every time was like watching Rambo about to take out an enemy. Whoever Rocket had his eyes focused on- Micro-Ice couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. He could only guess it had something to do with his lady friend Tia, as he had heard reports on the news about the university he knew she went to being assaulted by Bleylock's men and in all fairness what else would the crazy general be doing there. The click of a handle being installed to a main socket caught Micro-Ice's attention as he snapped out of his day dream. As he looked up, he couldn't help but feel he was looking at a main star actor from an action film about to kick some serious ass; the whole wrong thing about it was that it was all real. His friend wore nothing but black as his trousers, shirt and jacket fit his body perfect, not lose to get enough to get caught on anything but comfortable enough to move around in. Just to prove this theory right, the soldier began moving his arms around, testing the fabric. Satisfied, Rocket began tying the last holster strap around his thighs before placing a set of semi automatic dual guns in them. Next were the knives tucked into his boots, one hidden in his belt buckle and some throwing knives hidden up his sleeves. Lastly was the shot gun which he slung over his shoulder; now he looked ready to kick some ex-husband ass. Still he felt bad for letting Rocket go by himself.

"Are you sure about this Rocket? I can still get my stuff together in time…" Despite his defensive, he was interrupted by a single lift of his older friend's hand.

"There's not enough time and I don't want him getting scared off because he's out numbered." Rocket explained to his friend. He knew Micro-Ice was trying to help but right now he would just slow him down – besides, he would need him for later if he managed to find out where Tia was. "Not to mention I and Jonathan have unfinished business." He finished off as he tied his hair back into a high ponytail. Usually he didn't bother but for this mission he couldn't risk his hair getting in the way. Hearing the underline to what his friend said, Micro-Ice nodded in understanding and followed the taller block out of the room. With a whole shot of morphine (which he had snatched from the doctor when he wasn't looking) Rocket felt no pain in his arm or in his leg and was able to walk with just a slight limp that was barely recognisable unless you focused on that point. During there whole time through the hospital halls, Rocket was giving Micro-Ice orders to follow later on. He didn't want to bring Sonny into it because he wasn't sure of his commander's condition and knew he would stop him in any ways possible if he knew the hell what was going on. However, it seemed that fate was against him as he strolled into the receptionists lobby, to busy talking to his team mate to notice the large group of family members arguing with the commander himself.

"Rocket!" His mother's voice echoed through the crowd of people. Oh crap! He thought to himself when his mother raced towards him and pulled into a suffocating hug. It wasn't until she had let him go and stood back that she noticed how he was dressed. The son could sense that he was going to be so grounded (even though he didn't live with his parents anymore they would still find a way) when he noticed his mothers relieved eyes turned into angry ones.

"Mum I can explain…" Rocket began to pleaded but his mother would have none of it.

"Rocket James -, you should be resting and here you are all geared up to do God knows what!" His old ma told him, whacking him one across the head. Ow! Rocket cursed silently to himself as he bit the tip of his tongue of his tongue to stop himself shouting out.

"What's going on Rocket?" Norata spoke up as he reached his son, he narrow eye brows telling him his father was not happy about this either. Great! Rocket thought, tempted to roll hi eye but forced them to look straight since his mother would only whack him around the head again for being rude. Separately, his parents were a force to be reckoned with but together they were un-stoppable; he did not need to have this argument right now. He could feel his parents ganging up for a fight but was interrupted when a nurse suddenly appeared by Rockets side.

"This just came for you; the man said it was a matter of life and death." The nurse informed him as she past him a small white envelope. With a sincere thank you, the man took the item from her hands and quickly opening it, his hand dipped into pull out what was on the inside. His fingers shock when he felt something soft and familiar tickle the tips of his fingers. Carefully he pulled the material out to notice it was hair, not just any piece of his, it was Tia's. He would notice the same platinum blond hair anywhere. Pulling the last of it out he notice a small note on the bottom of it.

_Tick tock, tick tock,_

_The seconds you waste,_

_a body part disappears into space._

_If you use up time,_

_then your lover shall surely die._

_Tick tock, tick tock._

It was not a body piece, just a piece of hair, but that did not stop Rocket from getting angry all of a sudden; even more furious then before. Ignoring the rants of his parents, Rocket grabbed the keys that were dangling from Micro-Ices hand and race out of the hospital before anyone could stop him. Jumping in to the small Honda that belonged to his friend, Rocket forced the keys into the hole and turned on the engine, thrusting the gear changer around he move quickly out of the parking space and with his foot pushed all the way down on the accelerator and zoomed out of the car park.

Meanwhile, injured Sonny was now left with an angry crowd of parents (when he says parent he means Norata) yelling at him.

"Will you give me a second to explain please?" Sonny forced himself to say calmly just as the boy's father was taking a breath to shout more. This seemed to catch the middle age men off guard for a second before he answered.

"Then explain Sonny, what's so important that our boy has gone full commando on us when he should be resting in bed?" Norata demanded, unable to control his own fury.

"Bleylock has Tia." Was all Sonny said, making the whole room turned deadly silent.

It had taken him a whole twenty minutes to reach the shipping pier but he found himself thinking that maybe Jonathan wasn't as stupid as he thought. The whole place was surrounded in metal crates piled up high on one enough. It was a hard battle field to fight on. It was possible Jonathan was here already, hiding away or on top of one of them, giving him the advantage of higher ground and possible sneak attack. Slowly, he slid on of the dual guns from his belt and headed into the massacre of jumbled boxes. All of his senses were on full alert, reacting to every sound that was made around him. Keeping himself close to the walls so nobody could sneak up on one of his sides, Rocket carefully made his way around the domes, carefully searching every corner of the shadows that loomed over him. He had not realised had let it was since the sun was now completely gone from the sky, except for the small rays of light that were desperately trying to remain on to the surface. Rocket gut instinct was on edge as his senses tickled with anticipation. Come on you coward where are you? Rocket hissed to himself, turning another corner. Now, he wished he had been careful about what he said because seconds later, he had to throw his body back behind the crates as bullets came flying at him from nowhere. Staying low, he waited for the shots to stop firing before he shot back up to his feet again and with his gun point first turned the corner and began shooting aimlessly at the random place he had seen the firing come from. This gave him enough time to move across and get down into a better position. As soon as his head ducked down again he could feel the very top bits of his head being chopped off as more bullets came flying from the enemy's direction. Keeping low, Rocket fired his gun randomly in the direction of the machine gun until it stopped. Taking this opportunity to his advantage, the soldier dived over the boxes and slid over towards the machine and kicked it up in the air so it couldn't be used against him. As fast as he could he jumped back on to his feet to face the person handling the gun but was shocked to see no one handling the device. His answer was shortly answered when something tackled behind him and knocked the air out of him. Out of instinct, Rocket threw his head back and struck his attack hard in the head. The person seemed to loosen his grip on him long enough for Rocket to push him off him and grab the man's after, thrusting it hard up his arm. However, the man he was looking at was not Jonathan but some other person. Kicking the man hard in the chest, he watched the man full; keeping a solid boot on his chest grabbed the shot gun from his back and held it just an inch away from the man's face.

"Where. Is. Jonathan?" Rocket hissed barely able to keep the anger from his voice as he pointed the gun further into the man's face. The stranger could only stare at him with such fear that he did not answer it at first until Rocket shoved the gun further into his face. "Don't make me repeat myself!" He spat through his teeth. Slowly, the man moved his arm and pointed behind him. Looking in the direction he was pointing at. All Rocket could see was the ocean. However, in the distance a small speckle of light caught his attention. He looked down at the coward and struck him hard across the face. It would not kill him but it would keep him out cold for a few hours. Looks like I'll have to swim, he sighed to himself, as he ran full speed towards the docks. Nevertheless, luck was on his side as since when he came down to the piers were a stash of jet skis. Jumping on to one, he didn't waste his time switching on the engine and with full force towards the blinking light. "I'm coming Tia!" He whispered to himself.

Where am I? Tia wondered to herself as she shock the cuffs securing her to the wall again. Now she knew how Rocket felt when she met him in the basement of her old mansion. She didn't know actually were she was but she could sense she was on what because even though she couldn't see through the window that was her only source of light she could hear the movement of waves. Rocket had taken her to the beach so many times now that her ears had come accustomed to the sounds of the sea. Plus, every time she lay down on the floor, she could hear the sound of engines moving below her, similar to those of a boat. Leaning back against the wall, she tucked her legs closely to her body and held them tight. The buzzing of her head was driving her nuts, since she had not fully recovered from her head injuries she has received from her ex yet. Speaking of the monster, the door of her cell opened and in walked the man she hated.

"Hello my beloved." Jonathan smirked, making his way towards her and crouched down in front of him. She fought the disgust look on her face when she sensed the feeling of his breath on her skin. Grabbing her chin in one of his solid hands, she forced him to look up at her. "Look at me you-" He could not finish his sense when Tia spat in his face, in response he slapped her around the face. Shaking her head firmly, she looked up at him in the eyes; a daring move.

"I'm not scared of you anymore." She tossed back at him. Waiting for his comeback, she was shocked that he did not hit her once again but smiled instead. What is he up to? Tia wondered.

"You think you are so big since you runaway with that spy didn't you." He cursed like the subject was tabooed or something. Listening to him talk, Tia wanted to point out she didn't exactly run away; what really happened was that she escape his murderous clutches and was bleeding to death by the river when Rocket found her. So it wasn't like she had cheated on him or anything – though she wished she had done him in the cells just to prove she had screwed with Rocket beforehand just to piss him off. "Well you won't be feeling so tough with your big strong man no longer there to protect you anymore." He teased viscously. Tia's eyes widen in fear when she looked up at him when he had finished speaking.

"What are you talking about?" Tia demanded from him, not caring if her defiance caused herself anymore trouble.

"Your lover is dead sweetheart." The poisonous words were like a gunshot wound to the heart. She could feel her body slump into depression as the words sunk in. "But don't worry my wife, I'm still here for you." He smirked, at her, gently stroking her cheek.

"You're lying." Tia cursed, as her heart bleed with pain that she was desperate to heal up. There was no way she would give into Jonathan's lowlife words so easily, she knew Rocket; there was no way he would of let this beast beat him so easily.

"You keep telling yourself that kid." He smiled at her, given her a playful punch around the cheek. When he left the room, Tia waited for his steps to disappear before she slumped on to the floor and cried. Please come and save me Rocket, please!


	29. It ends tonight

Chapter 29: It ends tonight

I've never seen such high tech community in all my life! Rocket thought to himself as he ducked down beside the ship again to avoid being seen by the robot's patrolling the bottom desks of the boat. Light from their touches just skimmed over the top of his head. Silently, he waited for the lights to disappear before he pulled himself back up again and leaped over the side. A quiet thump echoed when he touch the deck and hide behind a ventilation system on the front deck. Looking around her saw he was close to what looked like the command centre above him. Since he could see people working the controls through the open glass window. Keeping low, Rocket rummaged through his rucksack until he found a small device. Quickly, he strapped it to one of the vents and satisfied with his work, crept off along the lower deck of the ship. It was not easy trying to sneak around the top deck with all the security patrolling the lower ground but thankfully he did finally managed to make it to the next tower. He suspected that they were keeping Tia in the lower decks, possibly were the prisons would be, to keep her locked up. Making his way lower into the ground, Rocket was beginning to notice that the further he got down the less robots guards were there and the more human they became. Crap! He thought barely dodging another touch that had been shown in his direction. Telling himself to remain calm, he kept his breathing even and pushed himself into the shadows of the hole he was hiding in, until they walked straight past him. Well that was close, Rocket sighed to himself, climbing out from where he was hiding and walked straight into another guard.

"Hey you're not-" The security guard struggled to say as he pointed his gun at him. Bashing the gun out of the way with a back hand to a sensitive point on the man's arm, Rocket spun around and elbowed the soldier into the mouth, disabling the guard from speaking for a few seconds. This gave Rocket enough time To subdue the man quickly before anyone realised or heard the scruff.

"Prisons? Where are they?" Rocket damned to know, Taking the dagger hidden in his foot and holding it against the man's throat; a gun for this situation would be to noisy.

"Down the corridor and the stairs towards your left." The man muttered fast then anyone could of expected for a train soldier. Has Bleylock ever heard of interrogation tactics? Rocket wondered, half relieve and partly half annoyed that they had not won the war sooner with these poorly trained people. Deciding it was a matter he would have to come back across later, he disposed of the body were no one would find the tied up man for a while and proceeded with caution to where the man had told him to go. He paced himself to make sure he wasn't walking into a trapped but was surprised to discover that the man's directions were right all along. He had just stopped at the base of the stairs to her a woman's muffle shouting and a couple of men laughing.

"Man will that woman ever stop." One of the man muttered to one of his comrades. Peeping carefully around the corner to see three guards sitting around a small corner playing cards (seriously what was it with prison guards and card games?) the other guards laughed at the man's statement quickly before settling back into their game again.

"Yeah! She's been pissed ever since Jonathan went to see her. Wondered what he said?" He questioned, placing a card on the table and taking two more.

"Think he said something about some guy named Roger or Rodney... I don't know something like that." His mate answered. Rocket had heard enough and digging into his rucksack again and digging out a gas mask and three mini marbles. Aiming for underneath the table, threw them. As soon as they impacted on the ground, black smoke explored and the three men began choking. Switching the heat ray on his mask, Rocket made his way through the smoke, Rocket began taking them out one by one. By the time the smoke had disappeared, he had tied them up and hid them in closet. Grabbing a set of keys that were hanging off the wall he made his way down the corridor, he didn't know what they did but he thought it was worth brining them anyway since he couldn't see any other keys around the room. Following the voice of the woman down the dark corridor, he began to realise that it was in fact his Tia shouting her heard off and she was shouting some pretty foul language and even some words he didn't recognise; they sounded quite foreign in his opinion. Slowly he made his way towards the end of the corridor where the shouting was the largest. Fiddling with the keys he began trying out all of them. It was on his fifth attempt that he managed to unlock the door. As soon as he open the door something whacked him across the face, catching him by the surprise. The force knocked him to the ground. Looking back up he saw and very -very- angry looking Tia staring at him (not just any angry the scary type)

"I swear if you touch me so help me god I will make sure your best friends chopped of." She hissed, it wouldn't of looked so terrifying if there wasn't dried blood plastered around her face and matter in her her, along with the chains tying her back to the wall it made her look some kind of monster the enemy had hiding in the basement (a beautiful monster, Rocket quickly added) He couldn't understand why she was so angry with him until he remembered he was still wearing his mask.

"Well just last week when I was massaging your body you were begging my best friend to join in." He smirked under his mask, which cause a confused expression on her face. Instantly, he whipped the mask off his face to reveal his identity.

"Rocket you're a- Ow!" She yelled as she tried to move towards him. Jumping to his feet Rocket raced towards her and began unlocking her chains, as soon as she was free they both embraced each other like their lives depend on me. "Jonathan told me you were dead." She cried into his shoulder and he was doing his best to comfort her.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He answered, and with a nod of her head she followed him through the hall. However, as they made their way across the halls, Rocket couldn't help but worry about Tia's health. She breathed heavily and it was getting heard for them to sneak past guards with her breathing so rapidly. After signal handedly taking out a few guards that they couldn't sneak by they managed to make their way to the top. "Do you trust me?" He questioned, looking her deep in the eyes. Tia was so startled by this questioned that she didn't know how to react at first but quickly removed the stillness from her mind and without thinking placed her mouth against his, moulding their lips together as they kissed passionately below the moonlight. If she had her way, Tia would have made out with him longer but reality settled back into her mind. Releasing her grip from his, she placed a hand on his cheek and caressed his fine cheekbones.

"I will always trust you because I love you." She whispered back, not realising what she had said until after she blurted it out. After she had admitted that relief and pure happiness glowed in Rocket's eyes and in response bent down and kiss her fully on the lips again.

"I love you too." The love of her life smiled back. For a moment they just stood there and gazed at each other lovingly in the eyes but the sound of men shouting broke the trance and Rocket disappeared into full commander mode again. "When I push this button stay close to me and run as fast as you can." He ordered and Tia quickly nodded in agreement. Knowing she would do what he said, Rocket peeped around the corner of the wall and looked in the direction of the front deck near where the control centre was. Grabbing his telescope her zoomed in on the area and was happy to know his device was still in place and had not been spotted yet. A warm presence on his hand made him look down to see that Tia had grabbed his hand. Instantly he squeezed it back for reassurance. Turning back again his body face the open sky and the furious ocean that slapped wildly against each other. Using his scope again he searched the distance to see nothing had come into sight yet. Biting on his lower lip, he thought rapidly before taking on is touch before switching it on and off a couple of times. After a few moments he placed it back in his rucksack and searched the area again and was glad to see a flashing in the distance. It was now the moment of truth and placing his stuff securing back into its places and giving Tia one more squeeze with his hand pressed the button. Immediately the loud sound of a boom echoed from the front of the ship. Glass smashed out from the command centre windows as the fire rocketed zoomed through the building destroying every that was in sight. The explosion was so great that it almost sent Tia flying if Rocket had not had a firm hold on her (also he was somehow not affected by the blasts impact) pulling on her arm, the soldier raced forward with his lover close behind him. They headed in the opposite direction of the blast and straight on to the side of the loading deck. Another explosion sounded and this time knocked both of them over. I swear I didn't plant a second one, Rocket thought to himself, he explosion must of move to the fuel tank somehow that would of destroyed the second tower. If that was true then the boat would start sinking any moment. As he checked over his shoulder to see that the second tower they had just been in had explored also. Out of instinct, Rocket rolled over on to Tia and placed his body between her and the debris of metal that came crashing down from the building over head. The protective barrier that he had turned his body into had taken most of the damage away from Tia but as he rolled back over his body screamed with agony.

"Rocket!" Tia screamed as she got up from the ground and learnt over the man who had put his life on the line now for more times then she can count. Forcing away the pain that burned within his body, Rocket forced a smile on to his face and stroked away the loose hair that had gotten into her face. A small smile spread across her face as well when she saw he was all right.

"Go!" He commanded, knowing that help would be coming soon. Tia's eyes went wide with horror and shock her head furiously.

"No I won't leave you." She growled back with such determination that Rocket doubted whether he should try fighting back or not. Quickly, he made up his mind and was about to tell her to go again but she placed a finger over his lips as if she knew what he was going to say. "Come on." She shouted, as she took one of his arms and tried to pull him to his feet. With a lot of effort, Rocket managed to get himself back on to his feet and with Tia supporting him under one arm began moving him towards the back of the ship. The amount of time it took to get there was almost killing Rocket but after a determined trial they managed to make it in time to see the helicopter hovering above them. As they got closer the doors slid open and reveal a group of heavy armed men; the only two that didn't wear masks were Sonny and Micro-Ice. That man should be in a hospital, Rocket thought forcefully as the sight of his commander caught him by surprise. This thought was short lived when something ruby talked them from behind. Tia's terrified scream shattered Rocket's heart when he looked back up to see his lover trying to fight off Jonathan.

"Get off her!" He growled and like a lion jumping for his prey, Rocket knocked the man from his feet and both went rolling to the side of the boat. Both men clashed into the side of the boat. Rocket cried out in pain and tried to get back on his feet but Jonathan had recovered quicker and leapt on him with a knife in his hand. The soldier had no idea where he had gotten it front but he didn't have enough time to figure it out as he tried to push the blade away from him. However, he didn't have enough strength to hold it away because the morphine he had used earlier was beginning to wear off and the pain in his arm was more painful then before.

"Rocket!" He heard Tia shout. It seemed time had slowed down around him and he turned his head enough to see his love running towards him with the other men hot in pursuit. He felt the pressure disappear from his body and looked up to see the monster getting off him ready to face her. No! Rocket screamed inside his head when his eyes caught a glimpse of the gun that hang on the back of his belt; his hand slowly reaching for it. Without thinking, Rocket forced himself back on to his feet and with all his might clashed into Jonathan again. But this time they had been so close to the edge and both men went over. As soon as Rocket's body feel into the freezing sea it felt like his body was being stabbed by a hundred knives. He gasped for breath only to follow water instead. Quickly, he began swimming back up into the surface. However, something tugged on his legged and he felt himself being dragged down. Finally getting a good look he saw Jonathan was pulling him further down. Both man began struggling with each other under water. Rocket knew he had to get away from him soon otherwise he would run out of air and took a drastic measure. He pulled the small belt knife out and stabbed him in the stomach. It was enough for him to be realised and he watched as Jonathan seemed to disappeared further into the sea. The fiery feeling in his lungs remained him that he needed oxygen and began swimming rapidly for the surface. However, he had not realised how far they had been dragged under and he could feel that his arms were weaken and that his muscles were beginning to stop working. His body refused to work any more and his mind turned into a dreamy state. The only thing he could take in was some kind of light hanging above the surface; then darkness.


	30. I thought this day would never come

Chapter 30: I thought this day would never come

"Will you calm down Micro-Ice! You act if you're the one getting married!" D'jok yelled slapping his best mate around the head, hoping it would stop him jumping up and down but with no success since the youngest man surrounding the alter was too excited. Rocket could only laugh but soon regretted it since his lungs were still bruised for the whole 'saving Tia from mad husband' scenario. Taking in D'jok's behaviour, Rocket knew that he was just nervous because it was his big day. The wedding was quite a small one (to everyone's surprise since they had been expecting a big one) but he had to admit it had been all done wonderfully. The church that had been chosen was small but was beautifully decorated with coloured stained glass windows and mahogany wooden banisters that framed the architecture off main hall perfectly. Not to mention the wonders his parents did with the florist arrangements – they had also been invited to the wedding as a gesture of good will. The other people who had been invited were some of their other close friends from the work place and even Brim Simba had excepted an invitation (apparently he loved weddings) and also Stella and her family. Finally Sonny and Mary were near the front waiting. Everyone else they knew was taking part of the ceremony. The sound of music began and suddenly everyone was standing up, fiddling with their outfits to make sure their suits were straight (otherwise they would have Mei to deal with if they didn't look nice) everyone stood at attention and looked towards the entrance way of the church. The doors opened and revealed little Rosie, wearing a fluffy red dress with white flowers adoring her flaming red hair. An echo of adoration could be heard echoing through the halls as the crowd watched the little girl chucking pink petals from her little basket on to the floor. You could see the concentration edged on her face as she tried to remember the proper steps to take. As soon as she reached the alter she was congratulated by everyone around her. With a small giggle she went running over to her dad who picked her up and gave her a peck on the forehead. The next person was Yuki, she came in with a short green dress that was a much darker colour to the toddler and also had little flowers in her orange hair with a lovely bouquet of red and white roses. Turning towards his mate, he saw that his pearly white teeth were glowing from the massive grin that had spread across his face. D'jok was right; Micro-ice was the one acting like the one that was getting married. Shaking his head, Rocket turned back to the entrance and caught his breath. The maid of honour had entered the room and the gorgeous red dress adored her appearance. Since the white flowers wouldn't show in her hair she had red roses in her head instead. She had a beaming glow around her that made her boyfriends heart melt – great now he was the idiot that looked like he was about to get married. Gracefully she made way towards the front and stood opposite him and was looking at him with a happy smile on her face. The music became louder all of a sudden when the bride entered the room. Mei was a magnificent site. She was wearing a pure white gown with no straps and was tailored to be cut to shape her figure and wore a veil that was small at the front but laced long down her back. D'jok seemed unable to breathe all of sudden when she stepped beside him. Despite the whole ceremony supposing to be all about Mei and D'jok and how they joined together, Rocket couldn't help but send slight glances over to Tia who he thought he also thought sending them back. As soon as D'jok pushed back his new wife's veil and kissed her on the lips, everyone jumped to feet and gave a massive roar of applauses from the crowd. Rocket couldn't help but wonder to himself if this would ever be Tia and him one day?

The after party was crazy. Micro-Ice and the lads had somehow got their hands on some expensive liquid and now mostly everyone was drunk or at least slightly tipsy; a least they had waited for the speeches and the first dance to happen first. Tia had found it completely shocking that Mei was still able to dance like a super star after the amount of liquor she had consumed – it must be something she was trained in. Meanwhile, Tia was taken her time consuming that amount that Mei had and was able to still think properly. The warm sense of someone wrapping the strong arm around her waist and a cold sensation of kissing touching the base of her shoulder sent her hormones into overdrive.

"Think we can have some fun in the bathroom." Rocket whispered seductively in her ear, earning him a heart half elbow to his gut.

"Rocket! We're at a wedding, show some class." Tia told him off firmly but she couldn't help the sly smile spreading across her face.

"Want to go outside then and get some fresh air." He asked and Tia couldn't help but oblige since she was starting to get a headache and she needed a bit of peace and quiet. Allowing him to guide her outside to the balcony of the hotel they had rented out. The cold breeze sent shivers across her sweat covered skin and relaxed in the coolness of the out doors. She felt Rockets hands tie around around her and pulled her against his body. In return she wrapped her arms around his neck and burier her head into his chest and danced. She could feel Rocket nuzzle against her neck. At this action, Tia couldn't help but giggle like a little girl when his beard tickled her skin.

"This feels nice." Rocket mumbled dreamily into her ear and began nibbling on it.

"Rocket! How much have you had to drink?" She demanded, pounding him lightly on the chest when she recognised he was more loose then usual.

"A couple of beers I think, I kind of last count after I did a few shots with Thran." Was his answer to her question. Shaking her head, Tia just put up with him and continued dancing. It was nice to get away from all the drama that had happened. They had tried to get back to normal but some of the changes were too drastic. Professor Clamp was still missing after he had been abducted, no one knew what happened to Bleylock after his short appearance at the college and also it had taken weeks for Rocket and D'jok to get out of hospital and it had left them with scars. Reminding herself of the events, Tia looked back up at the man she loved and stroked the white scar that appeared around the temple of his forehead.

"I love you." She whispered. Ever since they had said it to each other the whole relationship had taken to a whole different level; on an emotional level anyway. It just seemed to make things seem especially simpler. Not to mention it helped her get through the drama of waiting for Rocket to wake up after they had fished him out of the sea.

"I love you too." Rocket replied and she could feel the smile on her skin as he leaned in to kiss.

Bleylock moved through the dark hallways of his underground lab with a sense of purpose that could not match any other man on this galaxy. Guards and other workers moved a side into the corners as soon as they saw him making his way over. The double doors stood no chance when he threw them aside and entred the room that held a Professor Clamp strapped to a chair.

"Good evening Labnor, it's nice of you to join us." The general of Technoid smirked as he made his way over to the small man.

"What do you want from me Bleylock?" Clamp cursed as he struggled against his chains. The leader of the opposing army grinned his pearly white teeth and leaned into the man's` face.

"I want you to rebuild the meta flux for me like you did twenty years ago."

**Well, this is the last chapter but don't worry fans there's going to be another one (maybe even a trilogy … haven't really decided yet)** **but that won't be coming for quite a few months cause I got other things planned and need to finish off first.**

**Second, fanfiction people, galactik football fans, the general public I am ashamed of all of you. Why? The answer is simple – WHERE THE HELL ARE ALL THE MEI AND D'JOK STORIES? I found this out from doing a little investigating. I've had a lot of people ask me can I do a story based on Mei and D'jok and I've had to say no because for one thing I'm not a Mei and d'jok fan really and second I've never really come up with an idea to put them together. So I decided hey I may not do those kind of stories but I can at least direct them to some right! In the end I find only three stories. Obviously there are some stories that have Mei and D'jok moments in them but it's really got me down that no one's really made attempt if I'm being honest. Then yesterday I got a strange question. It basically started if with 'Hi I love your stories', then it went on to ask 'why aren't Mei's parents in the story?' The thing is I never really got around to mentioning it and couldn't really think of idea and then BOOM! Just like that a idea hit me, why don't I make a prequel to flux war that's about how Mei and D'jok met. Now if you've somehow reached to the bottom of this very long lecture you already know that something like this isn't going to happen for quite a while but I'm not sure when I can squeeze it in. So I've decided that if I can get thirty reviews after this chapter I will forget all about my other stuff and start working on this story. **

**I just wanted to say thank you for reading this story (and the long speech at the end) and hope you all have a good Christmas. Keep reading! Love x0Hannah0x :D **


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